Dreaming of You
by SoraOblivion62
Summary: It's been four years since Tori and the gang's adventure at Wanko's Warehouse... Tori and Jade are together and things are going well, until a new threat arrives to make things difficult for them. Jori
1. Intro

Oh my goodness I'm here! For those of you who see this and remember me, I've written a good amount of stories but the ones I'm really proud of are based on Victorious: Ponnie's Jealousy and After Hours. After finishing the latter I started writing a new story to continue the plot, making it a trilogy of sorts. That was a year ago, in fall 2015. In that time I have written almost solely on work trips. Whenever I was in a bus, on a plane, or in a hotel room I used that as a chance to write my story in a notebook, eventually transferring rough notes and dialogue to my computer since I don't own a laptop (shocker, I know!) I actually started writing some out before fall 2015 and didn't like the direction I had, so this story has gone through a lot. I'm happy to say it is now complete, or as complete as I need it to be before posting. I wanted to make sure it was almost finished before letting everyone see it, since I hate giving myself deadlines. That was one of the problems with my New School, New Life story, so this is my attempt at redeeming my quote, unquote, failure. Dreaming of You is a combination of having a more plot-driven work like New School, New Life, but it contains the stuff I like to throw in my stories. That being said, this story will be rated T… it never gets too raunchy so it should be safe for most readers!

First, I have a short list of people I want to acknowledge. Anyone who has been waiting for this and those who asked if I was writing more stories in general. You all helped motivate me in finishing this story so I didn't leave people disappointed.

 **JDog93** \- You checked on me a couple times, saying you really liked my work and that you couldn't wait to read more. I hope you do get around to reading this!

 **PD31** \- For helping me out that long time ago when I needed advice on building atmosphere for this story. I always reminded myself of that and I think it really helped flesh things out.

Finally, my brother, who proofread and beta-read the story on several occasions, allowing me to bounce ideas off of him. He also gave me some ideas of his own and made sure I didn't lose focus. He was a really great help.

Without further ado, here it is! Expect weekly updates as I'm still going through school and work so I don't think I'll post every day. As if you haven't been waiting long enough, I'm making people wait in between updates now _. In any case, I hope you all enjoy it!


	2. Chapter 1

**This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. Any events that happened are fictional and any similarities to true events are entirely coincidental. All characters and companies are owned by Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, except any original characters or companies I have come up with. No copyright is intended.**

* * *

"I lay in the bed quietly, breathing lightly as I try to bring things back to their real and natural state," I annunciate to the darkness in front of me. "Before it strikes 7:15 I'll definitely have to have got properly out of bed−"

"Wrong!" I hear from the darkness in front of me, an indiscernible voice directing me. "The line is 'Before it strikes quarter past seven' not '7:15!'" the voice yells louder.

I clear my throat and re-read the line before continuing. I thrash a little in my bed, my insect costume making movement unruly and difficult. "Should I really call for help, even apart from the fact all the doors are locked?" I rock a little in my bed, but one of my jostles is too strong as it takes me off the bed and I crash painfully to the floor. I grunt loudly as my body bounces off the wooden stage, my breathing tight as the wind is knocked out of me. I groan once more as the voice from before bellows out "Cut!" I look up wearily as the shadowy figure climbs on the stage.

"As hilarious as it is to see you fall completely off the bed, that's not what's supposed to happen!" the deep voice starts. The figure walks toward my unmoving body, closer to the spotlight on top of me. "I thought making you an insect in my play would actually make me happy, but I guess giving you the lead is just too much for you, huh Vega?" the pitch slowly changing to a feminine, husky voice as the indistinguishable face of Jade West appears above me. I lie there, mouth agape, as her words reach my ears. I try to respond but nothing comes out. "Get up!" she shouts at me. I roll around to try getting on my feet, but the rotund shape of the costume makes it difficult to gain purchase with my legs. "Oh my god, you're pathetic," Jade says sickeningly. She grabs my hair roughly and pulls me up to a kneeling position which allows me to get on my feet with a little effort. "Tell me, why did I even consider giving you the lead in this, besides making you dress like a bug? It's a male part… I should just give it to Robbie," she says softly, turning away and crossing her arms. I just stand there mute, my eyes downcast and my insect hands together. I see her quickly move towards me out of my peripheral and my head shoots up quickly only to be slapped hard across the face. My mouth shoots open and a tear comes to my eye from the sting on my cheek. "It was not a rhetorical question!" she shouts at me. "Answer me!"

My mouth flaps wordlessly for a second, my mind not wanting to say what Jade wants to hear but I speak anyway. "I don't know why you gave it to me… I don't deserve it," I reply, my eyes downcast in shame.

"Well at least we agree on something," she answers coldly.

I slowly walk towards the front of the stage towards the darkness, determined to not let any tears fall. "Hey, wait," I hear Jade say in an almost apologetic voice. I take a breath and turn around to face her. I look into an icy glare, her voice chilling as she tells me, "Get off my stage." Her hands roughly push my chest and I'm sent backwards; time slows down as my feet lose contact with the stage and I'm no longer standing. My body feels like it's in a freefall, the stage lights getting farther and farther away from my view. My mind tells me this doesn't feel right… the floor is only a couple feet lower than the stage but I just continue to fall deeper and deeper into an abyss. I turn my body and now I see the stage below me and Jade's cold stare looking up at me. The ground comes hurtling faster and faster towards me like I'm traveling a hundred down the freeway. I give in to my demise, close my eyes tightly, and await the imminent smash of my body on the wood below.

* * *

And that's when I wake up. Of course, falling to my doom doesn't end with any pain; just the sudden shock and realization I was dreaming the whole time. I lay my arm over my eyes and breathe deeply through my nose, my other arm reaching to my right to feel the empty space beside me; Jade's space. Since beginning our relationship our senior year at Hollywood Arts, this is the first time it's been vacant because of an argument; because of something I said. That's four years. The worst part is we weren't even arguing about anything important. But for some stupid reason, I said something that I knew would rile her up, just as a way to try to win the fight. To make it worse, instead of how she usually pouts and retreats to her makeshift office in our apartment, she actually slapped me, right across my face. I remember how much it stung and I reach up to caress my cheek as if the assault in my dream actually happened. Speaking of which, I've been having bad dreams every night since then, always involving her and how she used to treat me back at Hollywood Arts. Not that she was ever THAT bad but dreams always seem to make things worse than reality. Therein, it makes me feel worse about our troubles right now, not to mention I haven't been sleeping well. I sigh deeply before I lazily grab my Pearphone off the side table and look at the time. "4:45… I guess I'll start my day. Not like I'm going to sleep anymore," I say out loud to myself. Before I lift myself up to a seated position, I open my phone and look at the last text I got from Jade last night: 'I love you.' Looking at it makes me smile because it reminds me that the bad dream was just that. This text has been my constant reminder that things will be okay, or at least I hope so. We haven't talked a lot besides for a few minutes before she goes to sleep for work. It hasn't allayed my fears enough though, hence my lack of sleep. I sit up on the edge of my bed and after stretching and groaning, I finally get up to prepare for my morning run.

After throwing on some compression pants and a red running shirt, I take a walk through my apartment to rouse myself before I run. It's a decent sized apartment but nothing fancy. Despite Jade's job in the film industry, we both agreed we didn't need a big house right now. We decided on getting a two-bedroom apartment; that way it gave us more space than a one-bed for not that much more money. We took the second bedroom and renovated it into Jade's office where she does most of her screenwriting. The space allows for a nice-sized living room that's inhabited by a pair of recliner chairs and a loveseat… guess which one we use more often. Finally it has one bathroom and a small kitchenette across from the living room. It's nice and intimate for us; perfect. I have a small breakfast before I leave for my run. Running has been great for clearing my head, especially after the bad dreams I've been having. It's not even like Jade and I are going through a rough patch. Well, I guess it's kind of rough but it's not THAT bad. She's been apologetic in our brief conversations and she hasn't been home only because of her filming schedule. Of course, just because she's been great in our texts doesn't change how my feelings are driving me crazy. There are times when doubts enter my head and I have to do something to counter them. I just know that when I see her those worries will disappear. Until then, my nerves will continue to swirl in my stomach with anxiety but the thought of everything going back to normal brings a smile to my face. After ten minutes of running I reach my favorite part of my morning run. It's a family park filled with a couple playgrounds, a pair of tennis courts, a space for sand volleyball and a few patio areas for parties, among other things. The park has a nice running trail around the perimeter but I always gravitate to the center of everything. This is where I always go after a couple laps around the park because there's a beautiful fountain in the center. During the day it's always surrounded by people but in these early mornings it's completely isolated except for me and maybe a couple early morning joggers. I sit on one of the benches surrounding the fountain and take a rest. I decide to people-watch for a little while as I regain my energy. I usually see middle-aged men walking through the park on their way to work since there are parking garages on one side and office buildings on the other. Why they designed it that way is a mystery but I'm just happy they didn't tear up the park. Today though, I see two persons lightly jogging towards the fountain. I can see them smiling, a guy and a girl. The man says something that makes the girl laugh and she playfully nudges him onto the grass. Without breaking stride he gets back on the concrete and smiles back, his eyes beaming. 'They must be together,' I think to myself. I know, I'm sappy, but seeing events like this make me stay positive about my own relationship. They run past me, oblivious to me watching them; they're so focused on each other. I watch them go and then lift myself off the bench; Jade said she'd be coming home tonight so I have to get things ready for her. First is dinner… I don't know what kind of catered food she's had the last few days so I'm sure she'll like me making something for her. I'm not the greatest cook, as my spicy tuna balls I made for Ryder can attest to, but I'm no slouch either. I start jogging home so I can shower before I go to my favorite farmer's market near our house.

After picking up pasta noodles, veggies, spices, and fresh bread from the market I make my way home. It's a nice ten to fifteen minute walk so it's just another excuse not to drive on these busy streets. On the trip, I'm stopped by a few fans of mine asking for a few pictures which I am always happy to do. It happens occasionally so it's always nice to show my listeners how appreciative I am. After my Platinum Music Awards performance, Mason Thornesmith helped me release my first album and it was mildly successful. Yes, only mildly; let's just say that my rise to fame didn't come close to Taylor Swift levels. I started out with a lot of radio play on my first single and when I released my second it was generally liked as well. But on the whole, critics didn't care for my album. They said I had a 'great vocal range' but 'mostly flat, uninspired lyrics.' My singles started getting less and less radio plays, eventually causing Mason to let me go as a talent. Obviously he didn't really care for me; he barely tried to keep my career afloat. On the plus side, I owned the rights to my songs thanks to my contract agreements, so I moved on to Splashface. I posted my work there, which allowed my music to live on in the public. I've got millions of views which still bring in royalties. Between Jade and I we do pretty well. However, I'm still working on furthering my career. I've talked to André about working with his label but he doesn't have enough pull yet. His bosses agree with the critics so they don't want to work with me, despite André's persistence on breaking them. Despite all the setbacks, I can say I'm happy. After all my reminiscing I find myself back at my apartment.

A couple hours pass after tidying up and preparing a spaghetti dinner, just in time for Jade to come home. I keep the sauce warm on the stove and sit down to wait for my girlfriend to come home. The butterflies in my stomach are going crazy; she'll be here any minute and I just want to see her, hug her, and get our talk out of the way so I don't have to be nervous about it. Finally, from outside the door I hear the elevator chime; then footsteps coming closer to our place. Then the sound of them fading away; it wasn't Jade. I sigh, "Must be a neighbor." A couple minutes later, the elevator chimes again and the unmistakable sound of our neighbor's tiny dog yipping loudly. I groan outwardly and jump up to check the sauce; I can't take the waiting. I stir the sauce loudly against the metal saucepan, being more forceful than I need to be due to my frustration. Why can't she just get home?! I start worrying about whether she changed her mind suddenly because of how I acted. Maybe she just got stuck in traffic? Or worse?! My nerves are going through the roof and I subconsciously stir the concoction faster and faster. Then the front door closes loudly and surprises me, causing me to scream and spin around quickly. Unfortunately, the arm that's holding the spoon spins with me and I send sauce all over the kitchen. I close my eyes in embarrassment after realizing Jade is standing at the front door; in my panicking state I didn't even hear the door open.

"How long have you been there?" I ask, eyes still closed and cheeks red.

"Long enough to see you having a fight with our saucepan. And losing," she adds. The way she said it I can tell she has that little smirk on her face. I set the spoon down in the pan and quickly cross the kitchen to stand a few feet in front of her.

"Hi," I say slightly awkwardly, clasping my hands in front of me. Jade's smile falters a little and she decreases the distance between us. I take a breath through my nose and look into her eyes. "Jade, I−"

"Shut up," Jade says. But it's not with anger; it's almost sad. I can see a tear in her eye as she takes another step and wraps me up tightly in her arms, planting her lips on mine passionately. I sink into her, wrapping my arms around the small of her back and returning her kiss with just as much passion. I'm a little surprised by how this happened so quickly but I'm definitely not complaining. With every second our embrace lasts, I feel like I can sense her stress just fading away. It's like she was just as worried about how this would go just like me. I sigh contentedly as I release her from me, still keeping my hands on her upper arms. "I'm sorry for what happened Jade," I say with a smile.

Jade just looks at me with a slightly confused look on her face, surprising me a little.

"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who−," she pauses as if she doesn't even want to say the next thing. "I'm the one who slapped you… yet you smile at me as soon I come home… you make me dinner," she continues, taking a step away from me and towards the kitchen. "How are you so okay with what I did?" she finishes sadly.

I frown slightly and take a step towards her. "Well, it was a shock for sure, but I shouldn't have said what I did."

"It doesn't matter what you said, I should have never laid a hand on you like I did," she counters quickly.

I smile at her, "You're right, you shouldn't," I say while stroking her arms lovingly. "But I forgave you the moment after it happened. Your expression after what happened… I knew you regretted it immediately."

Jade breathes a sigh through her nose before responding. "Still doesn't make it right."

I reach down and grab her hands, gently caressing her fingers with my thumbs. "Let's agree that we're both sorry and that it won't happen again." Jade opens her mouth but I cut her off before she interjects. "I know you feel bad, but I love you and I'm not going to let what happened change that," I say sternly to reinforce how serious I am.

Jade flashes a smile and squeezes my hands. "You know you're sexy whenever you're demanding like that." I just beam at her in gratitude. "I love you too," she continues before we share a quick kiss.

"Come on, let's eat." We spend dinner talking about her work and about how I spent my time while she was gone. We talked a little more about our argument but we kept the topic away for the most part. She cleaned the dishes after dinner, showered, and then we just sat together on our loveseat and watched TV. It didn't take long for Jade to fall asleep on my shoulder; probably a combination of stress and the travel today. I quietly wake her so she can get a good night's sleep on our bed; I don't want her being sore from being cramped on the loveseat. By the time I'm done brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, Jade is sound asleep. I kiss her forehead and quickly fall asleep with her, content with the knowledge that everything is alright.

* * *

 **A/N: This is the first time I've ever written in first-person instead of third-person so I hope I've done a good job. It was definitely difficult at the beginning until I got used to it.**

 **Points for anyone who knows what short story I am referencing in the opening :P. I hope you all liked this opening chapter. All reviews are welcome, I reply to each and every one :).**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the views so far and all the reviews. This chapter was really fun to write. As always, please read and review, I will respond to all reviews as long as I can message back!**

 **This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. Any events that happened are fictional and any similarities to true events are entirely coincidental. All characters and companies are owned by Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, except any original characters or companies I have come up with. No copyright is intended.**

* * *

I wake up suddenly to the sunlight beaming in through our bedroom window. I cover my eyes quickly and groan loudly. 'What time is it?' I think to myself. I usually never see the sun when I wake up to run, especially with my inability to remain asleep for long as of late. I look at my phone and see it's almost 10 AM. "I guess I forgot to set my alarm," I say quietly to myself. The smell of coffee and food rouses me from my bed and I finally notice that Jade isn't next to me. A smile erupts on my face as I get up and don my slippers, walking slowly out to the kitchen as I run my hands through my hair to try to straighten the nest that's probably developed overnight. Jade turns to me as I enter the main room and smiles.

"Morning," she says pleasantly. She must have already had some coffee this morning if she's smiling. "Coffee?" she says, holding out my Hollywood Arts mug that I got when we all graduated.

"Yes, and good morning to you too," I say sweetly, sharing a short kiss with my girl. "Breakfast smells great," I say, taking a seat at the table and drinking a sip of the hot beverage.

"Yeah, well I've had quite enough of the catered fare every morning," Jade replies, rolling her eyes. "It feels great to cook for myself for a change."

"I can imagine," I agree, raising my eyebrows animatedly. Jade comes over and lays a plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs in front of me. "Thank you," I say with a smile.

"There's some oatmeal too, I'm keeping it warm on the stove," Jade adds, sitting down opposite me to eat her own food.

I coo at her for thinking of that for me; she knows that I like to have a bowl every morning. "Jade, you're the best."

I swear I see her scowl before she quickly changes her expression and says, "I know," in a super confident tone. I'm not sure what that was about so I give her a smile and start on my food. We quietly eat together, the only conversation being my compliments with how well she cooked everything.

I finish my breakfast and sigh contentedly. "I'll need to run extra tomorrow morning now," I add happily, giving her a smile.

"Yeah, your alarm was going off for awhile this morning and you weren't waking up," Jade replies. "I shut it off for you."

I smile sadly at her in response. I didn't talk to her yet about my recent insomnia. "Yeahhh, I didn't get a lot of sleep the past few nights after what happened, honestly. I had a lot of nightmares involving you… us," I correct myself. "I would wake up out of sorts every morning around 4 or 5 and I would never fall back asleep. So I would just run instead."

Jade frowns and casts her eyes downward. I can already tell she feels guilty about this. "I'm sorry…" she says simply. I feel like she wants to say more but maybe she can't find the words so I jump in.

"It's okay, really," I smile at her, though I don't think she notices. "I slept so well last night; my body is fully rejuvenated. I'm sure the nightmares are gone for good," I say in an upbeat tone. I notice Jade give a half-hearted smile before she goes back to her colder disposition while reading some kind of screenplay in front of her. First the disguised scowl and now this hesitant smile; something's definitely off. "Are you okay?" I ask worriedly. I can tell something's bothering her but I already forgave her last night for everything so I'm not sure why she's so down on herself.

Without looking at me she answers, "I just thought I was getting better… I was a bitch to you in high school and I've tried so hard to change for you but I still fall back into old habits. I just… I can't stand all the grief I caused you the last three days."

My heart breaks from her confession. She's obviously had this on her mind since our fight; it probably hasn't been easy on her, thinking I would be so upset I would leave her after what she did. I frown sadly at her from across the table. "You're not the same girl you were in Hollywood Arts," I reply. "Some things are the same; you still love horror movies, you hate a laundry list of things, you can even get annoyed with people," I continue, getting out of my seat. I realize that saying that may not have been best but I think my next part will drive my point home. "But you're also still ridiculously talented and you're protective of what's yours," I say standing in front of her. "You're protective of me and I know you would do anything to make me happy and safe." I bend down and grab the sides of her face so she looks at me. "I love you Jade… please don't beat yourself up over the past. Just be the amazing girl I know, okay?" I reach in and kiss her forehead. When I look back down, Jade is smiling and shaking her head.

"Damn it Tori, you're too good to me," she replies. "How can you always be so nice?"

"Years of practice," I say, winking at her.

Jade chuckles again. "I'll try to be even better, for you."

"Not just for me, but for you too," I correct quickly, not letting go of her.

She nods, "For me too." She reaches in and plants her lips on mine. Just like yesterday I can almost feel the stress melt away from her. It's crazy to think; I felt so bad about what I said to her that I never stopped to wonder what she was going through. She's dealt with those issues for so long that she must be as scared as me to lose what we have.

After a little longer I finally break our kiss and smile at her. "How would you feel about going for a walk? Maybe see a movie?"

"Anything with you," Jade answers with a smile. We interlock our hands and I give her hand a squeeze, a silent 'I love you' I use often with her that she understands its meaning. "But I'm picking the movie." She turns on her heels and brings the dishes to the sink, leaving me to just shake my head and smile. Just like her, just how I like it. I move to get ready for our day out when I get a call on my phone. I rush to grab it off my side table where I left it and it's none other than our red-haired best friend Cat. I smile and swipe the display to answer.

"Good morning, Cat!" I answer gladly.

 _"Hiii Tori! Did you and Jade make up yet?"_

I smile to myself. "Yeah, sorry, I forgot to let you know. I know how worried you were for us, but it's all good now. Did you want to talk to her?"

 _"No, not right now. I was hoping she'd be around so we could all go out tonight!"_ she says with a playful tone.

I laugh, "That actually sounds fun, it's been awhile since we've all hung out… just let me ask if she wants to, hold on." I push the 'mute' button on the screen and find Jade finishing up the dishes. "Hey, would you be up for going out tonight with Cat?"

Jade turns and dries off her hands. "What's she thinking?"

I unmute the phone. "Where do you want to go?... One sec." I press the phone to my chest to muffle our voices. "Some piano bar downtown… apparently it's really fun?"

Jade raises her eyebrows, "Could be fun. As long as I can get a drink and dance with you," she says passing by me and winking.

I make a kissy face at her and bring the phone to my ear. "She's in. I'll pick you up around 7 or 8, okay? I'm not going to drink tonight so I can 'DD'…. Yep, we'll catch up later. See ya!" I hang up the phone and finally get ready for my afternoon with my girl.

After spending a great and, ahem, intimate afternoon with Jade, we are on our way to pick up Cat from her place. We're about five minutes away when we get to a stop light, giving me a perfect chance to steal another look at my girlfriend. She's wearing a red shirt that laces just above her breasts, a thin black sweater over that to keep a little warm, a knee-length black skirt, and her favorite boots. Man, she rocks those boots in anything. She's dressed so casual yet it's perfect for a night out with me at the same time. I'm just wearing a loose zebra-printed shirt covered by a leather bolero-style jacket with blue skinny jeans and knee-high boots. I've caught Jade eyeing me a couple times so I know she approves of my choice of attire too. "I sure hope this place is as fun as Cat says," I say to Jade. "Part of me wishes we were still back at our place," I say flirtatiously.

"Yeah me too, but I don't see Cat enough. I owe a night out to her," my girlfriend replies. It's true… with Jade's work schedule and travel she often goes weeks or months without seeing her, only talking or texting occasionally. As much as I want Jade all to myself, spending some time with friends is important too. With most of our friends from Hollywood Arts outside of California we don't see them often. Even Cat isn't sedentary here in the Golden State. She works in film as well, doing costume design and the occasional guest roles on television, so she's sometimes traveling all over the country depending on what comes up. We soon arrive at the apartment and I text Cat to let her know. Before I even hit 'send' we see her in her doorway, smiling ear to ear. She must have seen us approaching from her window. Cat is wearing a ridiculously short-length red dress with high heels, the whole number greatly accentuating her legs. All I can say is that there will be a lot of turned heads when we walk in. We catch up a little on the way there, Jade talking about her job and Cat about her own while I listen intently, also focusing on driving. When we finally make it into the club after waiting in line for 20 minutes, we're greeted to the dueling pianos as advertised. The players are singing their hearts out and they're actually really good. From how loud everyone is yelling and singing along, it's obvious the alcohol has been flowing even this early in the evening. The pianos are on the wall closest to the main entrance with the bar situated on the other side of the room across from them. There are tables scattered orderly around the establishment with high tops located by the walls. There's also a staircase leading to a second floor. I'm not sure what's up there but we're happy with being down here with the pianos. We're lucky enough to grab an abandoned high top in the corner when we see its former patrons move to the second floor. After sitting down, Cat goes to the bar to get drinks for herself and Jade while we listen to the singers cover some of the biggest hits of the 80's and later. We see on the table in front of us a piece of paper to suggest songs to the pianists; I then look up to see a customer drop a tip in the jar along with the paper. I get a feeling that the more you tip, the better the chance your song gets played. Eventually Cat returns with their drinks and we continue to talk while everyone sings.

"So I never asked!" Cat starts off. "Have you found a producer yet?"

I give her a soft smile and respond in the negative. She's always asking if I've gotten an actual job; she cares a lot about my success and she knows it's been eating away at me recently. "You know if I found someone who wanted to hire me you'd be one of the first to know, right?" I add.

"Oh, I know, but I just wanted to make sure before I gave you this," she replies. Cat looks down and starts rummaging through her purse as I share a confused glance with Jade. She just shrugs and we both look back to our red-headed friend. "Surprise!" She hands me a card and I turn it over to read the front.

"A card for half off a frozen yogurt purchase at Yotally Togurt?" I ask confusedly, flashing the card to Cat so she can see it.

"Whoops, sorry," Cat says apologetically. I set the coupon next to her as she looks back in and grabs a different card. "This one!"

I look it over and my eyes widen after reading the text. "It's a business card for a music producer! 'Reese Briggs, executive producer, cinematographer'" I read off the card. "Oh my god, Cat!" I say joyfully.

"I figure you've tried so many people here in California, I looked around New York last time I was there. And it's not a sure thing or anything, but he told me to tell you to send him some stuff! He told me he feels bad for how Mr. Thornesmith treated you so he wants to hear some of your work," she adds with a smile.

I look to Jade who has a smile on her face. "Cat, you're amazing! Thank you so much." My mind is already racing about what to send him but I refocus on just spending the night with Jade and Cat. I lift my water in the air to toast. "To another opportunity!"

"Here, here," Jade responds in kind. Cat just smiles and raises her glass as well.

We talk amongst ourselves for awhile before Cat goes off and dances by herself on the dance floor. Jade and I just enjoy the time together, watching Cat have fun before the redhead forces me to join her. I gladly acquiesce and get my groove on to the awesome piano covers. Every so often I look over at Jade watching us, but from the look in her eyes I'm pretty sure she's focused on me. I do my best to give her a show without being too obvious, shaking my hips sensually and running my hands through my hair like she likes. I catch glimpses of her staring hungrily at me; I know if she was on the dance floor with me it might get a little too hot for everyone. The song ends and the pianists announce they're taking a short break. We return to the table and I plop down next to my girlfriend who gives me a look. I give her a coy smile. "What?"

"You know what," she replies. "When we get home," she finishes, knowing I'll get her meaning. Thankful my dancing got the intended result, I rub my hand on her thigh lustily to reciprocate her request. A few more minutes pass and the performers return to their instruments. The male of the duo turns his microphone on and addresses the crowd.

"We're back! How's everyone doing tonight?!" The audience replies with loud cheers and applause. "So we noticed we have a few celebrities in the house; I know, I know, this is L.A., that's nothing special," which elicits some laughs from the people near us. "But these three are some of the newest and brightest stars that our own home produced." The three of us exchange glances as we realize it may be us he's talking about. On cue, he gestures his arm towards our table. "Ladies and gentlemen, Cat Valentine, Tori Vega, and Jade West!" The crowd cheers politely but not uproariously, which is nice honestly. We're not huge celebrities but apparently people here know us. We all give a wave, well, Cat and I wave. In usual Jade fashion, she lifts two fingers from her glass as she sips her drink, not one to be acknowledged in public like this. "Sorry for kinda putting you on the spot, but we were hoping one or all of you could sing for us… how about it?!" he asks the crowd whom responds with a loud cheer.

"Why don't you do it?" Cat says to me amongst the yells. "Give yourself a little boost going into your new chance!"

I look at Jade who just grabs my hand under the table. "You got this." She kisses me full on the lips before bumping me a little to get me out of my seat. I grin at her then walk confidently up to the stage to a roar of approval.

"Can you guys play "Shake It Off" on these things?" I ask the two musicians.

"Sure can," the man says to me. "And thanks for doing this," he says gratefully.

The music starts up and I have to say right off the bat the pianists make the song completely recognizable for everyone. Some 'whoops' come from the crowd as they realize what song I chose to sing. I grab the microphone and turn to the patrons with a smile on my face. It already feels natural getting back in front of a crowd. I decide to play to the crowd and get them interested in listening. "Sing along if you know the words!"

 _I stay out too late_

 _Got nothing in my brain_

 _That's what people say, mmm-mmm_

 _That's what people say, mmm-mmm_

 _I go on too many dates_ (I even throw in the laugh from the actual song and I can hear Cat whoop at my choice)

 _But I can't make them stay_

 _At least that's what people say, mmm-mmm_

 _That's what people say, mmm-mmm_

 _But I keep cruising_

 _Can't stop, won't stop moving_

 _It's like I got this music_

 _In my mind saying, "It's gonna be alright"_

People have moved to the dance floor at this point, having a great time dancing together and singing along. The mood is infectious as I recite the lyrics from memory, occasionally glancing over at my friends to see them smiling and cheering supportively. I start to shake my hips more as the chorus comes in.

 _'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play_

 _And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate_

 _Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake_

 _I shake it off, I shake it off_

 _Heart-breakers gonna break, break, break, break, break_

 _And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake_

 _Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake_

 _I shake it off, I shake it off_

I realize I chose this song to emulate how I have felt recently about some of my critics not liking my music, especially when Jade and I were going through our rough patch. Now with a new opportunity presenting itself thanks to Cat, this song is a perfect mantra for me. I continue singing through the second chorus, giving the musicians a cue that I'm ending the song after that which they nail without any trouble. The crowd erupts in applause as I catch my breath and move my hair out of my face. The feeling is so electric, I'm suddenly extremely glad that I was asked to sing a song for everyone. I look over to Jade and blow a kiss her way; she just smiles and shakes her head at my goofiness.

After leaving the stage, the man turns his mike back on. "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up one more time for Tori Vega!" The crowd cheers again and I just sit down next to Jade again and plant a long passionate kiss to her lips. The energy from singing just needed to be shared with my amazing girlfriend; I can hear the 'oohs' from the crowd but I don't care. It's not like we've kept it secret from the paparazzi.

"Yeah, it's gonna be hard to stay here much longer," Jade mutters dreamily.

I kiss her again quickly before standing up and grabbing her hands. "Dance with me."

"Any excuse I can get to grind on you right now is all I need," Jade replies while getting out of her seat. The two of us spend a couple songs dancing together, getting really close together without a care of everyone around us. Of course we keep it classy enough but it's really difficult for us to control ourselves so much when we barely see each other for long stretches of time. My mind just flows with images of what Jade and my night together will be like and I let my body just move with hers, completely enjoying how her hands travel my body as we dance together. The night lasts a couple more hours as we dance and sing and talk with Cat. Afterwards we leave and drop Cat off before heading home and I know for the both of us, we can't get back soon enough.

* * *

 **P.S. I modeled the bar after an actual dueling piano bar I've been to many times. It really is a fun place to go to get some drinks with friends, the crowd is raucous on the weekends :P.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and follows! Here's the next installment, please R & R! **

**This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. Any events that happened are fictional and any similarities to true events are entirely coincidental. All characters and companies are owned by Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, except any original characters or companies I have come up with. No copyright is intended.**

* * *

Waking up the next morning feels amazing but it's a shame I have to get up instead of remaining next to her. However, I need to get my run in since I slept in late yesterday, even though the workout Jade gave me last night should be a sufficient replacement. I laugh quietly to myself for thinking that and slip quietly out of the bed, trying my best to not awaken my bed mate. After getting ready I leave a note for Jade on the kitchen counter telling her I'll be back later than usual. I step outside and as if it's reflecting my mood, the temperature is warm despite the just-risen sun and there are no clouds in the sky. My run is much less stressful compared to last week too, the guilt and fear from our fight long gone and replaced with joy and thoughts of what to do with the rest of our day. Maybe after our night out with Cat, Jade will just want to hang out around the house. As I run in the park, I see the same cute couple from the other morning; they must have a similar routine as me if I keep seeing them here around the same time. I smile as I pass them which they return in kind. I realize I probably wouldn't have been able to smile like that the other morning but the huge weight that was on my shoulders isn't there anymore. Nothing could get me down right now but I make sure I temper my joy just a little bit. Jade will have to go back to work in a couple days and I'll have to go back to missing her again. After finishing up my run I return to the apartment, but before I even reach the front steps I see a man awkwardly standing near the stoop. He is dressed pretty casually in blue jeans and a blue polo with a white t-shirt underneath; his brown hair is pretty short and flat and he has a goatee. I can see he is holding some brochures of some kind in his hand. He's pacing and switching between looking at his feet and the front door to our apartment building. I approach him to initiate a conversation; considering he's standing right in front of my building I at least need to see if he needs help with something. We lock eyes and he gives me this nervous smile and a half-wave. "Can I help you?" I ask him, returning a small smile of my own to be friendly, my breathing still uneven from my run.

"Hi, do you live here?" he asks while pointing to my front door. "I was hoping to drop off some of these flyers on people's doors but the front door is locked," he finishes with a shrug.

"I _do_ live here but," I frown apologetically, "I can't just let random people inside. No offense," I add quickly to soften the blow. I start walking up the stairs and he stammers from the sidewalk.

"Oh, none taken, of course, safety first," he spits out quickly. _Boy, this guy is nervous,_ I think to myself. "Maybe you could take one," he flashes a brochure at me. "It's my new pizza store, pizza place," he stutters awkwardly. "Trying to get a slice of the pie," he pumps his arm in determination and snickers out loud. It takes me a couple seconds to realize he just said a terrible pun and I pity-laugh despite the corniness of it.

"Oh ho, good one," I point at him and wink, hoping that it eases his nerves a little. "Sure, I'll take one, thanks. Good luck with it." I politely take one before turning back around to open my door.

"What's your name?" he blurts out, causing me to turn quickly in surprise. "Sorry, I just feel like I've seen you somewhere before." Being too nice for my own good, I give him my name. "Oh wow, it really is you, Tori Vega!"

I smile as I see him get excited; obviously he must be a fan, even if he's a guy who looks like he's in his early 30's. "That's me. It's nice to meet you..." I draw out, expecting him to give me his name.

"Yeah, totally! I mean, I know your music isn't really meant for guys my age but there's something about it that just hooked me."

I smile in appreciation. "Well, thanks, it's always nice to hear how much people like what I write. But hey, you" I say given no name, "I have to go work on some new stuff, keep an eye out!" I say quickly in order to appease him and get inside to Jade. Before he says anything I'm through the door; probably not the friendliest interaction but I figure I'll actually get something from his pizza place to make it up to him. As I walk towards our place, I can hear Jade from the other side of the door yelling. I cringe slightly because whenever she yells it means something, or someone, is bothering her. I quietly open the door and see my girlfriend on the phone, pacing back and forth from our bedroom to the living room. I see the TV is showing the news with the volume turned down as if she was interrupted which would only annoy her more. I look back over to Jade to see her walking into the bathroom and exiting with toiletries in her free hand. Setting the flyer down on the table and drinking some water, I start to fear we won't be spending much time together today. Jade stomps back out of our room, her hand running through her hair.

"Fine, fine, fine, tell him to relax, I'm coming back to take care of things." I close my eyes, the uneasy feeling in my stomach blossoming forth as Jade's words confirm my worries. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jade says snappily before hanging up her phone. She glances at me sadly before giving me a lackluster greeting. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to hear you're leaving early," I reply, giving her a sad smile.

"I'm sorry. Patrick is being a total nub about one of the scenes I wrote so now _I_ have to cater to him," she explains. Patrick is one of the main actors in her movie but he's always giving Jade headaches apparently. "Sorry if you made plans for us today," she continues before heading back into our bedroom. I follow her in and watch her pack some clothes into her suitcase.

"It's okay, really, just part of the job," I say a little selfishly. This has happened at least every other time she comes home for a short break from this movie just to have some problem at work. I quickly realize I sounded like a jerk so I correct myself. "I just hate that you're always being taken from me," I say quietly, crossing the room to get closer to her.

"You and me both," she replies, stopping her packing to turn to me. "I'll be gone for a week, maybe two considering who is giving us problems. I'm meeting the director at the studio before we head north," she says crossing her arms. "We're doing some filming near Bend up in Oregon; need some nice forested areas for our climax. If only Patrick was the one I killed off in my script," she adds in an annoyed tone before returning to her packing.

"Knowing you, no death would be good enough to satisfy you," I add cheekily.

"You know me so well," she hums. She steals a quick kiss and turns to pack her toiletries in her case. Before she can do anything though, I spin her around and mash my lips against hers in an attempt to savor the last of her short visit. Jade returns it equally, eventually biting my lip just how I like it. We land together on the bed with Jade on top of me as she takes the opportunity to slip her hand under my shirt to rest it on my stomach, slowly making her way up towards my breasts. Before she can get too far, an idea pops into my head.

"Hey, I need to take a shower. And it's totally not just to clean up before I take you to the studio," I say sarcastically.

Jade smirks at me. "You really have to work on your move to get me into the shower with you," she says before kissing me again.

I push it further. "What?! That's not what I'm implying at all."

Jade just rolls her eyes and lifts me off the bed, spanking me on my butt before saying, "Get going, I'll join you in a minute," she says sensually before packing some more in her bag. I smile back and retreat to the bathroom, getting ready to enjoy a little more time with my girlfriend.

An hour later we're driving to the studio where I get to drop her off and not see her for maybe two weeks. We talked a lot on the way there about the climax of her movie; it takes place in the deep forest where a serial killer has kidnapped a group of people; the killer has a bunch of traps set up but the people can escape if they fix some generators to open a door to freedom. Jade wrote it like some kind of game to make it tenser for the audience. Jade also told the director she wanted practical effects and thankfully they acquiesced. She's really excited for what the effects team has been able to do with what she wrote in the script. The worst part though about being in the forest is that her cell service is going to be shoddy at best so we won't really talk that much. _Of course_ , I think to myself.

"So what are you going to do?" Jade asks, breaking me out of my musings. Thankfully I'm not the one driving; I'm just bringing our car back home.

"Oh, I'll just be missing you," I answer goofily. Jade chuckles despite the corniness; she must be so used to me by now. "Honestly though, I figured I'd try writing a song or two for that producer Cat set me up with. I want to have at least a couple new things somewhat ready before I give him a call. It would be a good way to sell myself to him, maybe make one of them a single."

"Yeah, your older songs are so bad," Jade replies dryly. I smile and punch her lightly on the arm, loving her snarkiness, and she smiles too. "But seriously, that's a good idea. And since you own your old stuff you could pitch him one of your favorites. Maybe remix it a little to give it a different sound so old fans have something awesome right away."

"Do you think this guy will like my old stuff? I mean, he already knows who I am so if he was interested why wouldn't he have tried to contact me already?"

Jade frowns, "It could be any number of things, I'm sure. The fact you don't have your own agent probably being a major factor."

I mentally slap myself. Of course, that's probably why. My paranoia and recent rejections are just getting the best of me, but leave it to Jade to pull me back and make me realize the simple solutions. "You know, you're right."

"Of course I'm right," she adds. "Besides, when you inevitably impress this Reese guy, he signs you, and your first single with him rockets to #1, those other producers will be kicking themselves for passing on you."

My heart swells when Jade says that because I know she means it. We've been there for each other as we've pursued our dreams and even though my road has been rocky she's always stuck with me. I grab her hand in mine and squeeze it tightly, our special message to each other.

We arrive at the studio and drive up to the security gate. The guard in the booth sees Jade and waves, raising the pole so we can pass. It's a small studio but there's plenty of recording areas and buildings as we move along. Eventually we get to Jade's stop when we see her director and his assistant standing down the street. Jade parks a couple buildings down in a parking spot. We both step out of the car and I stand with my back to the door as Jade grabs her bag from the trunk. Coming to me, Jade sets her bag down and we stand closely together. "Well, I'll see you in a couple weeks," I say with a smile, doing a bad job of hiding my disappointment. Of course, Jade can sense it and she shares my sentiment.

"Yeah, it's gonna be even worse since we won't be talking. Don't miss me too much though, work hard." My girl and I embrace and share a quick kiss. When I open my eyes we both glance over to see the director's personal assistant standing next to us. He seems kind of timid, probably because he's seen Jade scare other interns if he hasn't been a victim himself. "What?" Jade asks him dryly.

"Sorry Miss West, we just need to catch our plane," he informs her quickly.

"Well, I'm trying to say goodbye to my girlfriend," Jade replies snappily without letting me go.

He shudders slightly and fails to find a response. I spy the director in the distance raise his palm to his face and I smile inwardly at her behavior. However, I don't want her to make any trouble right now. She already has enough to deal with in Patrick's demands. "It's okay, Jade, you do need to go," I smile at her. "I love you."

Jade gives a quick glance at the still frozen assistant before looking at me. "I love you too." We share another kiss and then she picks up her bag. As she passes the assistant, she gnashes her teeth, causing him to flinch. Jade just smirks as she saunters by and makes her way to the director. The assistant looks nervously at me and I smile and do a little wave to get him to follow. He quickly turns without a word and catches up with Jade and the director as they head inside. I watch them leave and then hop into the car to make the trek back. While I'll miss Jade, it may at the very least give me some motivation to write some songs. The whole way back I'm already visualizing some lyrics and thinking of a couple styles of music to go with them. I may even try to come up with a jazz-influenced song to set it apart from most of my pop styles. By the time I get home I can't wait to start messing around with my keyboard and finding some catchy tunes. It's not until an hour later do I realize I haven't really eaten and my stomach is growling. However, I am on such a creative high that I really don't want to stop to cook. I remember the flyer I set down when I came in from my run and I get an idea. I go to the table and pick it up, looking over the small menu and deciding that if they deliver I could keep working while I wait. I dial the number and it rings a few times before someone answers.

"Hi, do you deliver?... Oh that's great… my name's Tori.. Vega. I'll have a garden salad, no dressing, and a small cheese pizza." The guy on the phone says my total, I give him my address, and then I get back to work. But only a couple minutes later I get a call from Jade. Smiling, I answer. "Hey you!"

 _"Hi Tori, just giving you a call before I run out of cell service. You get home alright?"_

"Sure did. I already started writing a song as soon as I got home and now I'm waiting for dinner to be delivered."

 _"Oh yeah? What did you order?"_

"I ordered from this brand new pizza place called Fratelli's; just salad and a small cheese pizza."

 _"Fratelli's? Never heard of it."_

"Like I said, brand new," I say with a chuckle. "This weird guy was handing out flyers in front of our place this morning so I felt like trying it out."

 _"Well if some weird guy handing out ads can make you buy pizza I guess it's great marketing."_

I rethink what I just said and realize how I made it sound. "Oh god, no, that's not what I meant. He was so awkward and nervous. So anyway, how far away from your set are you?"

 _"Not far, that's why I wanted to make sure I called you. I'll call whenever I have a chance, don't worry about trying to reach me since my phone probably won't get it."_

"Right, makes sense. Well you know you can call me anytime," I add with a smile.

 _"Geez, call-ing up alread-. – love you!"_ I hear from Jade. I respond with my own 'I love you' in hopes she can hear it before the call drops. The call ends and I'm hopeful she was able to hear my reply. It's always hard to have her gone and this time might be even harder since we won't talk as much, but at least I have a new drive to keep me busy. I set my phone down on the side table next to my keyboard and pick up my pen to resume writing, but then the buzzer to my apartment goes off which startles me a little. I get up and walk over to the intercom. "Who is it?" I ask confusedly.

 _"Fratelli's, order for Tori Vega."_

"Wow, that's fast, come on up," I say, buzzing the delivery guy up. I open the door and wait for him. He eventually exits the elevator down the hall and I notice it's the same guy who was passing out the flyers this morning.

"So we meet again," he says with a smile, carrying one of those pizza bags to keep the food hot.

I smile back, "Yes, we do, how about that? That was really fast," I add quickly.

"Yeah, kinda slow today, still not a lot of customers," he replies with a shrug.

"Aw, well hopefully things pick up." I reach for the money in my pocket and I realize I left it on the kitchen table in my purse. "Shoot, let me grab the money, sorry," I say apologetically before turning around.

"Oh, no problem," he responds courteously. "So you really don't recognize me?" the guy asks cryptically. I turn and read his features, trying to think if we went to school together or something.

"I'm sorry, no I don't." I turn back around and start searching through my purse. "You know, I never got your name earlier. Did you go to Hollywood Arts or−" Suddenly, pain erupts in my arm and I feel it become heavy. I yell in pain as I look down to see a dart with purple feathers sticking out of my arm. I turn to see the delivery guy standing at the door holding a gun, likely from where the dart was fired. "Whuh, what's going on?" I say softly as I feel my fingers become tingly. Then my legs start to feel like jelly and I slump to the ground as I can't support my own weight. In my attempt to call for help, I can barely produce a sound other than a grunt. My whole body feels like ice and I begin to wonder if I'm dying, though thankfully my breathing feels normal. As if he heard my thoughts, the delivery guy appears above me with a smile on his face.

"The toxin I injected you with won't kill you, but you'll pass out soon. Then you're mine."

I stare back in anger as I feel myself drifting from consciousness, wondering why this guy is doing this, what his plans are for me, and of course Jade and whether or not I'll see her again.

* * *

 **P.S. Whoever can guess where I got Jade's movie from, let me know! :P**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for how long it took me to post this! While I was re-reading and proofreading again I noticed a few things I didn't like so I had to do a little minor rewrite. Hopefully you all like this newest part, thanks for all the love from the last part. There is a Game Grumps reference in this part so let me know if you find it! :P**

 **This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. Any events that happened are fictional and any similarities to true events are entirely coincidental. All characters and companies are owned by Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, except any original characters or companies I have come up with. No copyright is intended.**

* * *

I want to kill this guy so much right now. Here I am, with the director, producers, and aforementioned 'guy', Patrick. We're listening to him plead his case about my 'terrible script'. He's been contesting his character's motivation for the last ten minutes, saying that his character would be better suited to have a romantic interest. The problem is I wrote him as a retired cop and he's supposed to be the driving force that helps the younger characters survive; he has all the motivation he needs. Of course, I'm stubborn and don't want to change anything; I hate catering to most people and I especially hate rewrites. I write things with a purpose and I express this to the room. "If I let Nancy live, it creates inconsistencies early on in the movie." I look right at the director sitting two seats to my right, who predictably has tried to remain neutral this whole time. "I don't have to remind you that would involve scenes we've already shot."

"I don't care, I think it makes more sense to keep her around," Patrick retorts from across the table. Patrick is somewhat tall with brown hair that is spiked up in front; the hair is gray on the sides, already wearing his makeup as he has the whole time we've been filming.

I grasp my hair, trying to temper my rage. "Her death is motivation for Chris's actions in the climax! I'd have to rewrite not only that but half the dialogue would have to change between you and Chris, not to mention new lines for Nancy. Maybe if you kept your dick in your pants you wouldn't be so adamant about keeping Nancy alive," I finish with a scowl. The director stifles a cough and Patrick looks shocked; he didn't realize I knew about his behind the scenes fling with the young actress playing Nancy. "Also, Nancy is a secondary character… be professional and realize that it makes no sense to spare her life."

Patrick still doesn't look pleased but he releases a breath. "Fine… but can we at least agree she doesn't need to be pulled in two… literally?" he pleads.

I think it over and sigh. "Fine… how about chainsawed from behind, like through the chest?"

Patrick groans and shakes his head, seemingly disgusted by the casual tone of my statement. "Sure," he says bluntly before getting up and leaving the room. I don't like rewrites but this suggestion is harmless enough, and for everyone's sakes I'll appease him; just some of Tori's goodwill attitude rubbing off on me.

I look at the others in the room and smile mockingly. "Happy?" They mumble their assent and I stand up. "I'll have the rewrite in the morning," I say begrudgingly as I leave the room. It's late, it's been a long day, and I just want to try to get a hold of Tori to say good night. The fact that I'm here instead of with her is adding to my ire of Patrick. Hopefully there are no more issues and I get out of here in less than two weeks. When I get to my hotel, I try sending a text to Tori and it continuously fails to send; even in the hotel I can't get a reliable signal. The room doesn't even have an Ethernet port for my laptop. Apparently this hotel is so far from civilization they didn't even think of basic technological necessities. Maybe the hotel has a wired-in computer so I can try to reach her through that. I go to the lobby and find exactly that, and after logging in I bring up my email to send her a 'good night.' At least she might see that on her phone, so I go back to my room and try to sleep some before work in the morning.

The next day is filled with meetings to talk over any possibility of reshoots and how the next week of filming will go until we wrap. After that we set up some stuff for filming in the evening and I only help because I care too much about my script to not have a hand in anything and everything. I'm sure some of the crew hates it but I don't care.

With this being a horror movie we have to wait until the evening to film most of it and I would willingly hug my most hated enemy than use special effects to make it seem dark just for convenience's sake. By the time we're done setting up I only have ninety minutes to go shower and eat before I have to be back on set, meaning I can't try to reach Tori. The next day I do get a chance to try video chatting with her but she's not online when I get on. I decide to send her an email explaining just how shitty this hotel is and ask if she can come on the next morning. I also explain that if I could come home early I would, but I don't want to be pulled away unexpectedly again. Better just to ride this out. When I get to work, the director tells me they are shooting the climax, which means shooting is over! I can't even comprehend how we got it all done; it didn't even feel like that much work. For whatever reason we were way ahead of our scheduled time-table so instead of ten days we were done in about four. I'm so happy to get back to the hotel and get home, but first I jump on the hotel computer, hoping to find my girlfriend waiting for me. I can't wait to tell her I'm coming home early to see her reaction. Unfortunately, she's not online again. Frowning, I check my email to see if she replied to my last message… she didn't. She's either really focused on writing or something's wrong. I easily convince myself that it's probably the former; she always misses me fiercely when I go away. I reluctantly log off the computer, deciding that I'll just surprise her at home instead of letting her know. She loves surprises, that's for sure.

The plane ride home feels really long which gives me time to think of how far I've come as a person since Tori and I started dating. My feelings for her had grown steadily since our "date" at Nozu back at Hollywood Arts, though I wasn't ready to convince myself of that back then. Then the whole Platinum Music Awards happened where I actually got really close to spilling my infatuation for her. Thankfully Tori thought back then that I was worried about Beck kissing her, thinking I still wanted to be with him. But I was really worried that Tori liked Beck and that I wouldn't have a chance with her. Then things picked up quickly when Tori was kidnapped by Sam Puckett and the whole Wanko's Warehouse fiasco. I basically threw myself at her in the bathroom of the Electric Station even though I was dating Beck; I couldn't control my lust much longer but it was nice that she enjoyed it too. I even saved her from the leader Seth by knocking him out from behind; it was like a poorly written action movie. The look on her face when I saved her, her 'knight in shining armor'…I started convincing myself more that Tori may actually like me as more than a friend. But then I think of when I almost ruined everything because of my personality; the day after we caught the crooks when I was leaving our group's get-together at Tori's house:

 _"Wait! Jade, can I… talk to you for a second? Alone?"_

I remember being so nervous when she called to me. Of course, I was always so closed off that I maintained my usual façade when responding. _"What is it?"_

 _"Well first, thanks for everything yesterday. There were a few times when your advice really came through and it helped me out a lot."_ I remember she wrung her hands in front of her. God, she looked so cute, all nervous like she used to be back then.

 _"You're ever so welcome!"_

 _"I don't talk like that!"_

I used my southern belle tone I always used to tease her, just to get a reaction out of her. I loved the way she would blush and get a little fiery.

 _"I want to talk about what happened last night."_

 _"There's not a lot to talk about Vega. You were nervous; I kissed you to calm you down. That's it."_

 _"It was more than that!" That wasn't just a kiss. It couldn't be."_

It was like she read my mind about what happened. She basically just told me she liked me but I didn't want to let her know.

 _"I thought we agreed it was just a little fun."_

 _"Maybe it wasn't… Maybe−"_

 _"No, Vega, I made out with you in a bathroom to distract you from your nerves, stop thinking so much into it!"_

 _"Why make out with me though?! That's really not the normal course of action when you help someone!"_ I just glared daggers at her, remaining silent because I was afraid I'd say something that would convince her I cared for her greatly. _"Just tell me if there was some bigger reason for wanting to kiss me."_

She was much calmer than before, but tears were beginning to well up in her eyes which made it really hard to fight my true feelings. All I wanted to do was hug her and kiss her and tell her I was probably in love with her. But I didn't; instead I said the meanest thing I could think of because I was an awful person. _"It didn't mean anything."_

I slammed the door on her and cast my eyes to the ground. I screamed at myself in my head, 'It didn't mean anything?! What the hell is wrong with me?!' I think of how those words felt coming off my lips; bitter and cold, just like me. I leave my car on the street and start to walk home; I have to think about things and I'm in no shape to be driving. The walk home is silent besides for my inner musings of self-hate and regret. It's actually unsettling how quiet it is on the walk home; no cars, no people, no stray animals. I can't see anyone around yet I feel like there's someone following me. I duck into a well-lit alleyway and continue on my way. I try to keep my head on a swivel as my paranoia seeps in, which is when I feel like someone taps me on my shoulder. I spin around and there's no one there. The same thing happens and I spin to see the darkness beyond the alley. In my head I think I hear a child's laughter, like someone is playing a trick on me. I stand still to collect myself then say out loud to myself, "You're hearing things." I hear an echo of myself, but again it feels like it's in my head. Another tap, this time between my shoulder blades, pushing me forward slightly. I spin viciously to see nothing except my own shadow on the wall next to me. Something seems off though… I raise my right hand and watch as my shadow mimics me. I repeat it with my other hand with a similar result. I drop it to my side and say out loud, "I must be going crazy." I raise my right hand again to watch the shadow as if I need more convincing.

 _"You are crazy,"_ I hear in my head. I try to lower my hand but I can't get it to move. _"You're crazy to think you have a chance with Tori,"_ the disembodied voice says.

"What…?" I ask confusedly, my hand still frozen despite my best attempts at moving it. I watch as my shadow raises its left hand with no movement from my own; it waves at me in a child-like manner and I can't believe what I'm seeing. The shadow outstretches its arms in a pushing motion and I'm flung against the wall behind me roughly. Then my hands are forced above me, keeping me from moving. I'm still in disbelief at what's happening; my shadow is completely controlling me and I have no defense against it. I watch helpless as my shadow points and laughs at me with exaggerated gestures.

"What the hell is−" the shadow covers its own invisible mouth and suddenly my protest is cut short.

 _"How could Tori ever love someone as weak as you? You don't even love yourself."_

My eyes widen as my shadow demeans me further, but unfortunately I feel like its words speak true.

 _"You're pathetic; Tori is nice, and all you are is mean."_ Tons of insults simultaneously flood my head in my own voice from my past, years of self-loathing and outward bitterness echoing endlessly in my head. The shadow then looks like it's peeling itself off the wall, gaining a physical form that looks like me except completely shadow-like with dark crimson eyes. It points at my chest and then reaches towards it. _"I'm just going to take that; it's not like you need it."_ The shadowy hand reaches in, the feeling like a hot knife but it sends ice through my veins. The pain is so great all I can do is scream and pray for it to end.

I scream loudly and thrash in my seat, and then I realize I'm sitting in the plane. I feel the sweat all over my body, trying to keep me cool after my horrific nightmare. I didn't even realize I fell asleep while thinking of the past, but now I wish I had never done it. I look and see the studio's liaison peeking from behind a different chair; he's shaking like a leaf. I'm guessing I was screaming pretty loudly and I scared him.

"Sorry to wake you Miss West but we've landed," the man says apologetically, trembling.

I nod slowly and wipe the sweat from my brow. "Can you stop at Jet Brew? I need a coffee, two sugars. I don't want to sleep on the drive." He nods in acquiesce as he leaves hastily to grab the car. I hope seeing Tori when I get home will keep that nightmare from ever happening again.

I continue to think of Tori on the way home, delicious coffee in hand. We've spent the last four years together and I've watched her work her ass off to build her music career. Producers haven't given her a chance but now she has another opportunity in New York. I could still work in film, even write plays as well if things work out; I'll do whatever I can to help Tori land this, even if she doesn't really need the help. I owe her so much for what she's done to make me a better person. By the time I get back in front of our place I can't wait to see her. I swear this girl makes me act unlike myself. I step out of the car with my bag and look for Tori's car, seeing it in her usual spot. My spirits rise as it looks like I'll be surprising her. However, I enter our apartment to darkness, no sign of Tori anywhere. I drop my keys on the counter and take a look around; she's not here. I see her laptop and keyboard in the corner so I guess she isn't somewhere writing music unless she's using paper and pencil. I assume she's probably running so I'll still be a surprise when she gets back. I go to the fridge to grab some water and I spy something odd on the counter; the bananas that Tori bought the day I came back, all brown and soft. To most people it would seem like nothing at all but she never lets food spoil, she's so meticulous with her meal preparation. My stomach suddenly turns as paranoia sets in, the combination of this and the unanswered email beginning to make me uneasy. I move to her laptop and use our shared password to login. I check the history and my stomach turns even more. The last time a website was visited was Sunday, the day I left. I stand up and dial her number on my phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. Trying to calm my unsteady voice, I leave a message. "Tori, can you please give me a call when you get this? I need to hear your voice. I love you." I hang up and brush my hair back in frustration. I look back to the keyboard and notice something I didn't see before; Tori's cell phone lying on the side table. I try turning it on and find out it indeed has no battery left. Now I'm worried… she would never leave her phone if she went out, especially with no charge. I shakily dial up Cat to find out if she's heard from Tori at all. I don't know if I'm still being paranoid or what but things don't feel right. I hear Cat's syrupy-sweet voice greet me and I cut her short. "Cat, have you heard from Tori?"

"No, not since we all met up Saturday. Haven't you guys been hanging out this week?"

"No, I got pulled back to work Sunday. Then my service was terrible so I couldn't talk to her, she didn't reply to my email, her phone is here, the bananas has gone bad−"

"Jade, slow down!"

"The bananas has gone bad!" I repeat impatiently. My god, I'm so distraught I can't even speak with proper grammar. I take a moment to breathe and collect myself; thankfully Cat gives me that time. "I'm worried Cat, things don't feel right."

"Did you try calling her?" she asks as if I should have thought of that.

"I just told you, her phone is here and it has no charge. Her laptop is here too, I don't know what to do."

"Maybe she went running?"

"I'm not sure, she usually runs in the morning. It wouldn't explain the fact she isn't using her laptop either. Something's off, I can feel it. Just please let me know if you hear from her?"

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry Jade, I'm sure she's okay."

"Yeah, thanks Cat, bye." I hang up quickly and my mind continues to race. I can't call her and I don't really know where to start looking. I pace a little and I see a flyer on the kitchen table. It's the flyer from that pizza place Tori said she ordered food from the last time I talked to her. Maybe they can help; maybe they saw something suspicious when they were here. I call the number and wait for a response.

 _Beep beep beep "We're sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service. Goodbye."_

The line goes dead and I stare confusedly at the blank screen of my phone. "How is that possible?! Did they go out of business already?!" With this new bit of information, I think it would be a good idea to get some help, so I grab the keys to our car and head back to Tori's old home.

I arrive thirty minutes later and walk with purpose to the front door of the Vega's home. I'm not sure he'll be here but it's as good a place to start as any. I knock loudly and my hopes are answered as Mr. Vega, dressed in his police uniform, opens the door.

"Jade, what a surprise."

"Hi David," I say before walking past him into the house to stand next to their couch. The living room hasn't changed that much in the last few years, besides for their TV now being mounted to the wall and a new cushy chair to replace the old one. I spy a photo of Trina on the wall, reminding me that she's been working in Florida as an entertainer and model for the local sports team at home events and the like. I look back to Mr. Vega and notice him rolling his eyes at my intrusion.

"Jade, what have I told you about calling me that?" he replies while closing the door.

"Don't," I reply smugly. I check my attitude; I really shouldn't be so flippant but my emotions are a little crazy right now. "Sorry," I add sincerely. "Mr. Vega, I need your help… it's about Tori."

"What about Tori?" he asks.

I breathe a sigh, not really sure how I can really tell him this. "I… don't know where she is." I hand Mr. Vega Tori's phone to show she doesn't have it on her.

He looks at me with worry. "What… what do you mean? When was the last time you saw her?"

"Sunday; I left for some filming up in Oregon and when I got back her phone was at the apartment, there's spoiled food, her laptop hasn't been used in days."

"And you got back today?"

"Yeah, like half an hour ago."

"When was the last time you talked to her?"

"Sunday evening, around five or six. I called her just before I got into a bad service area." I grab the flyer from my pocket. "She said she was getting food delivered from this place."

Mr. Vega looks over the paper in his hands. "Fratelli's… never heard of it."

"Me neither, but when I called them earlier the phone number wasn't in service."

"That's peculiar," he replies. He takes a deep breath, years of police duty making him calm even though his daughter may be missing. "Let's go to the police station and figure out this Fratelli's business. It's a good lead… nice detective work," he adds with a grin. I return a small smile for the compliment before following him out of the house.

The two of us walk in quickly, Mr. Vega's presence drawing the attention of every officer who passes by, many of them with looks of respect and others with looks of confusion. One we pass calls out, "Chief, I thought you left for the day!" Mr. Vega keeps moving forward, passing his secretary and entering his office after unlocking it. The whole time I'm there I listen to the chatter amongst the officers in the adjoining room. Some of it is just gossip while others talk about cases they're working on. It seems like a tightly run ship that Mr. Vega has constructed in his short time as chief of police. He picks up his phone, looks at the Fratelli's flyer and dials the number, placing his phone on speaker. The same message comes up and he hangs up the phone. "Had to hear it for myself," he explains to me. "Ordoñez, get in here!" Mr. Vega shouts to the next room. In less than ten seconds, the officer appears and I recognize him as one of the officers who worked on the Wanko's Warehouse case with us. He has tan skin, slicked back black hair with a goatee, kind of tall, very proper and dressed professionally with shined shoes. I look at his arm and see three chevrons on the upper part of his sleeve; looks like he got a promotion in the last four years. I hadn't even noticed him when we walked through the building but somehow Mr. Vega knew he was there.

"Yes Chief?" he asks respectfully, coming to attention with his hands behind his back.

"At ease," Mr. Vega addresses. "Have you ever heard of Fratelli's pizza place?"

Sergeant Ordoñez brings his hands in front and clasps them together as he becomes more casual. "No sir, can't say I have. The wife likes Pappino's too much," he adds with a chuckle.

Mr. Vega holds the flyer out to him. "Take this and check that address, let me know what you find. Consider this top priority. You're dismissed."

Ordoñez looks it over and then salutes his chief. "Yes sir, may I ask why?"

David sighs and looks sadly at his officer. "My youngest daughter is missing and she called this place four days ago, the same day she disappeared."

Ordoñez's face drops. "I'm sorry Chief, I'll get right on this." He leaves quickly, leaving the two of us alone. Mr. Vega doesn't say much as he goes through paperwork, probably filling out a missing person's report. Less than twenty minutes later his phone rings on his desk. He puts the phone on speaker and answers it, probably expecting Sergeant Ordoñez. "Hello?"

"Hey Chief, I'm here at the address. There's an actual building here but it's no pizza place. It's a flower shop, been here for fifteen years."

"Thanks Ordoñez, hold on." Mr. Vega mutes the phone. "When did you get that flyer?"

"Same day I left, Sunday; Tori said some weird guy gave it to her in front of our place."

Mr. Vega's face lights up slightly. "Alright, we need to find out if there are any exterior cameras that can make this guy." He unmutes the phone and explains that to Sergeant Ordoñez, giving him our address and all the details he needs to find the proper time. Afterwards he hangs up and smiles at me. "Hopefully we find some help here."

We sit in silence for awhile, just waiting for Ordoñez to come back so we can get a lead. Sometimes Mr. Vega leaves the room to talk to some officers or give orders. I swear this man is always working. In any case, it's terribly nerve-wracking sitting and waiting but at least Mr. Vega has had some good ideas. After about ten minutes my phone rings, startling me from my boredom. I get it out of my pocket and look down to see 'Unknown Number.' The chief enters the room, obviously hearing my phone. He looks at me and sees the worry etched on my face. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," I say quietly. Usually I would pay it no mind, assuming it's some telemarketer on the other side. However, something in my mind is screaming at me to answer so I swipe the screen and press speaker so Mr. Vega can hear. "Hello?" I say quietly. A few seconds pass with no answer but the call is still going. "Hello?!" I yell louder. Mr. Vega stands quietly with his hand on his chin. Static starts to sound intermittently and I start getting nervous and desperate. "Tori, is that you?!"

 _"Victory is mine,"_ a disguised voice replies before the line goes dead.

I look at my phone, dumbfounded. "Victory is mine? What does that mean?"

"Vic-Tori," Mr. Vega corrects me. "There was a slight inflection on the –tory, like it was on purpose."

"Wait, are you saying she was−"

"Kidnapped… I've worked these kinds of cases before and for some reason kidnappers have weird ways of doing things. This also means that he may contact you again which means it gives him more chances to make a mistake."

Mr. Vega is just so calm despite the peril his daughter is in. It's at this point I realize I've only been thinking of myself and I've barely thought of what he must be going through. "I'm sorry, Mr. Vega, that this is happening," I say quietly. He looks at me surprised, like he was thinking of something and I interrupted his train of thought. "You must be so worried about her."

He smiles at me. "Thank you, Jade, I am worried, as any dad whose child is missing would be." He crosses his arms. "But our girl is a fighter and we're going to find her." He pauses for a moment. "He won't hurt her," he reassures me and maybe even himself. "He probably wants some ransom; a kidnapper wouldn't go through all this trouble if he wanted to hurt her. Speaking of which, can you think of anyone at all who has a reason to kidnap her?"

I ponder it for a moment but it's difficult to think of a single person who has it out for Tori. She's so selfless and nice to everyone. "Um, well, there's that Ponnie girl from Hollywood Arts."

"I remember her," Mr. Vega replies. "She was never jailed if I recall, just cited with civil disobedience and served mandatory therapy. Last I heard she moved to the east coast; she was weird but not really a criminal."

I shrug in reply, it's a fair point. "Well, there are those four guys we put in jail."

Mr. Vega goes on his computer and starts typing as I watch from over his shoulder. He's searching some database to check for them probably. "Well, I'll check for them but considering you guys were partly responsible for their arrests, I'm supposed to be notified of any changes in their sentencing. Hmm, Seth Hillen, jail. Bruce Johnson, jail. Michael Cross, jail. David Cross…" he pauses slightly. "Released?" he looks worriedly at me. I return the same expression. "How was he released?" he asks rhetorically as he storms out of the room.

I follow him out of the room and see Sergeant Ordoñez walk into the main area, video tape in hand. "Chief, I got one," he remarks. Mr. Vega swipes it from his hand and moves to another room with a television and VCR. The officer is taken aback at the chief's action and looks at me confusedly. "What happened?" he asks me. I shrug off his question and join Mr. Vega at the television. The view of the camera is focused on the street near our house. I can definitely make out the porch to our apartment clearly; the image is actually of higher quality. I look intently at the screen trying to make out anyone suspicious.

"Jade, around what time do you think Tori got that flyer?"

"Umm, probably 9 or 10 in the morning?" Mr. Vega fast forwards the video slightly and the three of us focus on the front of our apartment. I see a guy standing there wearing blue jeans and a polo holding some papers in his hand. Unfortunately his back is to the camera so we can't see his face. We can't get a good look at the paper either but it looks like the same size as the flyer we have. "Do you see that guy?" I ask, pointing at the screen. "The guy with the jeans?"

"Yeah, I do," Mr. Vega replies. "He has all those papers in his hand but he's not talking to anyone passing by him." I look again and realize the accuracy of that statement. "Why would someone who is trying to get business not pass out the flyers he's holding?"

We keep watching and the guy abruptly starts looking around, acting all nervous and looking at the door to our apartment. It's a drastic change from his demeanor seconds earlier. I wonder why until something else, or rather someone else, catches my eye. "Tori! There she is!" We observe the two of them talking, then Tori starts walking up the steps before turning around. Of course, the man has his back to the camera completely now. They continue talking and eventually she takes a flyer from him. As she goes to open the door she spins around quickly. I can tell Tori is trying to get inside but he keeps talking and preventing her from getting in. Finally she gets inside but then something weird happens. The man turns up the street towards a garbage can and dumps all the paper inside. He finally crosses the street into perfect view for our vantage point, oblivious to the camera trained on his face.

Mr. Vega pauses the video. "No doubt about it," he says softly. "That's him… David Cross." I look closely and I have to agree. Besides for the goatee it's a spitting image of the mugshot we just saw. The chief runs his hand through his hair. "Someone is getting so fired for this."


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: So I feel really really bad. Not only because it took me so long to post this, but because I thought I already posted it a few weeks ago.**

 **I went and updated this chapter, added the author's notes, but then never actually published the chapter for anyone to see. It has been sitting in the queue (if you will) for so long... I can't believe I just noticed. School has been keeping me busy so I haven't been on for awhile. I hope you all forgive me :'(.**

 **A shorter chapter this time, we find out why Dave has kidnapped Tori. Thanks for the reviews and everything and your understanding as well.**

 **This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. Any events that happened are fictional and any similarities to true events are entirely coincidental. All characters and companies are owned by Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, except any original characters or companies I have come up with. No copyright is intended.**

* * *

Things don't feel right at all. I feel like I've been asleep for days, my muscles ache, I can't focus my vision and my throat is dry. In fact, I can't even lift my arms. That's when I remember what happened to me; I was poisoned by that delivery guy and I passed out. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, inhaling deeply, trying to relax my sore muscles. After a couple minutes I finally feel a little better. I look down to see my arms strapped to the arms of this sturdy wooden chair with duct tape, which explains why I can't lift them. My lower legs are also bound together with tape as well. I think of the face of the delivery guy before I passed out; I remember how he asked how I didn't remember him. Considering I didn't remember him earlier, my blurry mind makes it impossible to think of anyone right now. One person I can think of is Jade and I wonder if she even knows I'm gone. I don't know what day it is so there's a chance she's been home a week and is worried sick, or she's still working and has no idea. As nice as it is to think of my girlfriend, I have to get a bearing on my location. I seem to be in some basement; how cliché. There's a window on one wall near the ceiling, covered in a blanket that is thin enough to let some light in but thick enough to obscure the view of the outside world. I'm able to turn my body enough to see a staircase in the corner leading to an upper floor. There's a water heater, a workbench on one wall, and a door to another room. Other than that the room is pretty empty. I struggle a little to try to break my bonds but I'm still too weak; the best I can muster is a small, weak grunt before I give up. Whatever that guy infected me with is sure doing a number on my body. I try to call out but I can barely produce any noise. I swear, if this guy ruined my voice… I don't know whether or not I want this guy to show his face but I really need some answers.

The door above opens up and the lights overhead are switched on, allowing me to see much more clearly. I keep my head facing forward as I listen to the wooden stairs moan and creak as the guy, I can only assume, descends. I continue to listen as his steps get closer, until he walks right in front of me. I look up defiantly and see the delivery guy with this all too smug grin on his face.

"So you're awake… how you feeling?" he asks, still smiling. I want to kick this guy so hard but he's too far away to get a good shot in. Instead I try to make a smart remark but it comes out raspy and unintelligible. "Oh, having trouble talking, huh? Here." He pulls a water bottle out from behind him, unscrews it and holds it to my lips. I eye him suspiciously but I desperately want something to soothe my throat. I go to sip it and he carefully pours the cold liquid down my gullet; it really feels amazing as I engulf it, I just hope he didn't do anything to the water. "Better?" he asks as he takes the bottle away.

I cough a couple times to clear my throat and find it much easier to produce sound. "Yeah, thanks, unless you poisoned that too," I remark.

The man grabs a chair I didn't see before and sets it up in front of me, taking a seat and facing me. "Don't worry, no more of that," he answers.

"Who are you and how long have I been asleep?"

"Well, you were only out for half a day, so it's Monday morning. Also, I can't believe you don't recognize me; I mean, it's only been four years since we last saw each other." I stay silent as I'm tired of trying to figure this guy out. "I'm Dave Cross, one of the guys you got thrown in jail?" he asks, more than tells.

My eyes widen as I remember the last time I saw him, getting thrown in the back of a cop car. "Oh yeah, I do remember you… you were the gullible one I tricked into giving his name." I smirk when I see his smile drop. "Don't tell me you're still mad about that."

"No, not anymore," he replies, still frowning.

I look down pointedly at my bound wrists then look back at him. "So why this? Why kidnap me if you're not mad, as you say?"

"Well, I was angry for awhile, I'll be honest. The four of us, being fooled by a bunch of teenagers after years of elusion was emasculating, to say the least. And it's true you're the reason why I slipped up." I snicker at his admission. "You wouldn't know from our encounter but I was supposed to be the smart one of the group−"

I laugh louder at this bit of information. "Wow, had me fooled." I watch him grit his teeth slightly and I love that I've already started gaining an advantage on him.

"Anyway, besides Seth, I was responsible for making sure we all got away every time. I always had contingency plans for guards, for locks, for security systems and even traffic on escape routes." He pauses for a moment then looks at me, but in a weird way that unnerves me slightly. "But I never had a plan for you, Tori Vega," he says smiling.

My eyes widen as I feel I understand his meaning, but I have to ask. "What are you saying?"

He breathes through his nose in a longing fashion. "Even after all this time I haven't gotten the feeling of our kiss out of my head." I feel like my eyes are going to pop out of my head. "There was just… something there, ya know?"

I stare at him in disbelief; this guy thinks that the 'make-out session' I initiated with him to get his name was somehow real. It's uncanny that something similar happened to my sister at Hollywood Arts. "If you're so smart, why haven't you realized I did that to trick you?"

He shakes his head. "There's no way it wasn't," he answers confidently as he gets out of his chair. "I'll be back." He walks up the stairs and exits through the door. As soon as it closes, I struggle to release myself from my bonds with my newly regained vigor. My fight pays off quickly as the tape around my lower legs snaps apart. After a couple minutes of kicking and flailing I'm able to get the tape completely off. I'm not so lucky with my wrists though. It's difficult to gain sufficient leverage and admittedly my arm strength is nothing compared to my leg strength. I proceed to stand up awkwardly and move to the work bench, literally carrying the chair with me. I spy a screwdriver on the table, but it's sitting next to the wall, making it impossible to reach considering my position. After a couple minutes of pulling and fighting, I realize I have made no progress and sit down with a huff. The door opens a short time later and I smell something appetizing. Dave is coming down the stairs with a plate of food and it actually looks really good, considering I haven't eaten in a day, literally.

"I made you some lunch," he says with a smile. He sets the plate down on the table before pulling a pocketknife out of his pants. I don't make a move as he approaches me, allowing him to cut the tape at my wrists. I grit my teeth as the tape pulls on my skin and he notices my grimace. "Sorry about that. So enjoy the food; I also have some clothes in that bag over there," he says pointing to a duffel bag in the corner. "If you want to change, I mean."

He makes to leave but I stop him with a question. "How did you even get out of jail? How did you find me?" There are so many questions and he hasn't spoken much about it so I figure I need to initiate the conversation.

"Well that's easy, the getting out of jail part… well actually both parts." He grabs the other chair and sits down. I grab the plate of food and start digging in, the aroma too intoxicating to ignore. "When the four of us were finally sentenced we got split up. Seth, our 'fearless leader,'" he air quotes, "tried to throw us all under the bus beforehand. It didn't work out for him but it didn't sit right with me that he tried. Thankfully he got sent home to Texas with the heaviest sentence." He chuckles, "When I think about it now, I realized he wasn't as smart as we thought. He took too many risks which made me work harder than I needed to." He muses a little before continuing. "Bruce got sent east, Mike and I stayed here in California but we were put in different prisons. Being away from my twin, hard as it was, helped me focus on bettering myself. He's always so hotheaded; it was good to get away from that for so long. So with that time apart I chose to do my time and help others; I helped the staff with various chores, making meals, stuff like that. It didn't take too long before the warden realized this and I got a reduced sentence for good behavior."

"Yet you kidnapped me…" I reply coldly.

"I hope you'll forgive me for that… old habits," he shrugs but he seems sincere. "Anyway, I've been out for a month… I decide, 'Hey, why don't I get a couple drinks?' I walk around till I find this nice little piano bar." I realize immediately he's speaking of the same club Jade, Cat, and I visited on Saturday. "I take a seat at the bar.. I get a drink, I'm listening to the pianos and watching the game on TV, enjoying the time. Then they announce they have celebrities in the crowd and my eyes widen. 'Woah, really?! I wonder who it could be,' I say out loud." I roll my eyes at the way he's telling the story. "Then they say your name and I see you stand and wave. You're wearing this amazing outfit; tight jeans, this sexy jacket, my jaw drops. I'm so hopeful that when they ask one of you to sing it's you; thankfully you do go up there and you start the show and you're dancing and singing, getting really into it," he rambles. "I never knew you were so talented." I appreciate the compliment but don't express any emotion to him. "I'll admit, I ended up following you home afterwards…"

I cut him off. "Ew, you stalked me?!"

"I didn't 'stalk' you… I just wanted to know where you lived so I could see you again and talk to you."

"Sounds like stalking to me," I reply bluntly.

He ignores my remark. "Unfortunately I realized how close you and your girlfriend were that night; right after you finished your song you jumped off the stage and started making out with her in full view of the entire bar. I just knew I had to get you alone to show you how good I am now," he admits, somewhat sadly.

"If you're really good, you'll let me go home. And I love Jade, there's no chance I'll fall for you. You really need to get over this infatuation you have with me."

"Just give it time," he replies. "I'll take that," he says grabbing my now empty plate. He leaves the basement, leaving me alone again but now I'm able to roam my prison. I immediately go and pull the blanket back from the window and I see it's a glass block window. This type of window is meant to be break-resistant but still let light in, so getting out this way will be impossible. I go to the only other door in the basement and open it up and find a bathroom, a fully furnished one at that. There are towels on the rack and somehow the shower is filled with the same shampoo, conditioner, and body wash I currently use at home. It looks like Dave is trying everything he can to make him seem like he's changed. Despite my hesitance to undress in this place, I admit I feel filthy since I haven't showered since yesterday so I take the opportunity and use the stuff provided. Afterwards, I change into a set of clothes from the duffel bag, leaving my hair simply towel-dried since there isn't a blow dryer here. While going through it I notice these are all my clothes; he must have spent some time after knocking me out to grab my things. That would explain why the toiletries were so familiar. After I change into blue jeans and a red T-shirt, I look at the door and notice it's slightly ajar. It wasn't like that before my shower so I wonder if he opened it again and forgot to close it. I realize I could use this chance to escape but I have no idea where I am. If I do make it outside I could probably just go in one direction until I find some store to get help. As I reach the door I peek around to try to find Dave. It's awfully quiet so I wonder if he's on an upper floor or something. As I step out I notice the house isn't abandoned or anything; it has nice furniture and décor as far as I can tell. I tiptoe down the hallway towards the front door, making sure to check around corners before moving forward. I'm no more than thirty feet from salvation when I hear a voice from behind me.

"How was the shower?" Dave asks politely. I turn to face him and realize he was in a room I didn't check. I breathe out of my nose in frustration.

"Fine, thanks," I reply.

"Would you like a tour?" he asks making a sweeping gesture. "It's not much but it's home," he adds.

I decide quickly that trying to run right now would be futile; he probably knows this area well enough that trying to hide would do no good. I also can't take this 'nice guy' act seriously enough without worrying he could flip a switch and become violent. I make a plan to get a layout of my surroundings and a tour would actually help with that. "Sure, whatever," I answer in a very Jade-like manner. I seem to have gotten some of her mannerisms since our time together but I feel like that will help me for the time being. I won't let my guard down with him around.

He shows me around and I make mental notes of every window, door, and exit we pass. I even grab a piece of junk mail off the kitchen table which has his address on it. This will definitely come in handy later. As we walk around I can see that the house is actually quite nice and I wonder if it's his or did he steal this from someone as well. I would find it hard to believe he'd own something this nice after being in prison for four years. We end up in the living room which has a large flat screen TV and a couple video game consoles underneath it. He plops down casually on the couch. "Take a seat," he says patting the space next to him on the couch. I glare at him and make it a point to sit in a chair furthest from him. "That's okay too," he says with a chuckle, apparently unaffected by my slight. "You wanna watch something? I have Netpix, some movies," he says pointing to a rack of DVD's in the corner of the room. "Anything you want."

I eye him from across the room. It's only mid-afternoon so saying I want to sleep won't work in getting me away from him, plus I'm not tired. "I'd actually like to go for a run."

He frowns. "Sorry, not yet. I have a feeling you'd just run away if I let you outside."

I scowl back at him. "Well you're right about that. Can't you just let me leave? You really do seem like you've changed, at least a little. Why risk getting arrested again by holding me against my will?"

"By the end of the week I hope you'll feel like you belong here, with me," he answers assuredly. "I'm doing a lot to make sure you don't feel like a prisoner so just ask for anything and I'll do it, within reason," he adds quickly when I go to make a smart remark about releasing me again. I guess I'll kill some time before going to bed is a reasonable option.

"Let's watch something on Netpix, whatever is fine," I say with a bored tone, reclining further in my chair so I don't have to look directly at Dave. I spend the next two hours marathoning some show he likes. I watch uninterested for the most part though some scenes make me laugh inadvertently. After those two hours he serves me dinner while we watch TV but it doesn't take long before I want to get out of there. "Hey Dave, I'm really tired," I say unconvincingly. "Where can I sleep?"

"Oh yeah, I never showed you your room, let me escort you," he says in an over-the-top fashion, gesturing me to move ahead of him. I roll my eyes and we walk down the main hallway to a fully furnished room which is connected to the main bathroom via an adjoining door. "This is yours, I hope it's comfortable. Bathroom is through there," he says pointing at the door. "Have a good night Tori." I walk in without reply, feeling the covers of the plush bed. "I know things don't feel great right now, but it will get better," he says with a smile.

"I highly doubt that," I answer coldly without facing him. I hear him sigh before closing the door and leaving me alone. After a moment, I check the door; locked, of course. Predictably neither of these rooms has windows so there's no getting out of here. I find some scrap paper and a pen in a desk drawer and proceed to draw out a literal map of the house as I can remember it. I figure it may be useful when I figure out a way to escape, whenever that is. After I'm done I lay awake in the bed, pondering what I can do. I could try the same trick and pretend to like him but he probably wouldn't fall for it again, right? Maybe if I played it slow, like every day I try to learn more about him and start showing more comfort around him. I could fool him again. He's obviously super conceited about his chances on turning me straight, so it could work. It probably wouldn't hurt to try, except acting like I'm falling for him will make me ill. I fall asleep while thinking of ideas to put my long dormant acting abilities to the test.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for the views and reviews. Story is almost over, I hope you've all been enjoying it!**

 **This fanfiction is for entertainment purposes only. Any events that happened are fictional and any similarities to true events are entirely coincidental. All characters and companies are owned by Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, except any original characters or companies I have come up with. No copyright is intended.**

* * *

The next morning I wake up determined to set my plan into motion. The first thing I do is thank him for breakfast, something simple and unassuming. When we talk I still act distant but try to say a little to keep the conversation going. Then I ask him if he can get me a couple books from the library so I have something to read. I figure that if he does that I could act a little more appreciative for his good deed.

"I'm not comfortable leaving you alone, unless you're in your room," he suggests.

"You'll only be gone, what, twenty, thirty minutes tops? You can leave me for that long."

"Not really," he counters.

"But there's nothing to do in my room," I whine, trying to be cute. I then decide to put one idea into play; his enjoyment of tying me up. "Tell you what, you have some handcuffs?" His eyes perk up at this; perfect. "Maybe… you could handcuff me to something and I'll just watch something on TV. That way I can't run away."

He stutters a little and there's a visible swallow of nervousness. I'm guessing he wasn't expecting that sort of proposal from me. "Uh yeah, that will work. Be right back," he says before walking quickly out of the room. I smile widely at the display; despite his supposed intelligence this guy is so easily manipulated. "Found 'em," he says walking into the room with some cuffs and some rope. "Umm, sit down in this chair," he adds pulling a wooden chair from the kitchen. I sit down and he pulls each of my arms through spaces in the back of the chair, cuffing my wrists snugly together. "To make sure you stay here, I'm tying your legs together too," he says showing me the rope.

"Whatever you say," I say with a very subtle hint of enjoyment. I obviously want to make sure he doesn't catch on to my ulterior motives. He ties my jeans-clad legs together from below my knees to my ankles. He then cinches it all through the middle before threading it through the chain of my cuffs, making it a tight hogtie. I grunt when he knots it off as it uncomfortably stabilizes my arms. There's no way I could break out of this; Dave obviously knows how to keep someone immobile.

"Alright, what do you like to read?" he asks.

"Just anything in the mystery section, surprise me," I request. Once he leaves I try to get comfortable but it's pretty much impossible. I struggle a little to see if anything loosens but trying to break out only makes the bondage tighter. _At least my plan seems to be working_ , I think to myself. I spend the next couple days making Dave think I'm starting to like him more and more. I've started initiating conversations with him, trying to seem interested in his personality and his life before he became a criminal. It's Thursday afternoon and we've just finished eating lunch, now getting towards the end of this funny show he likes. Instead of laughing like usual, I act like something is bothering me until he catches on. He pauses the show and looks at me.

"Hey Tori, is something wrong? You don't look like you're enjoying the show like usual."

I sigh. "No, nothing's wrong, it's just…" He looks at me, waiting for me to continue without prying. "Things have actually been going pretty well here and I'm just not sure what I'm feeling right now. I feel like I'm betraying Jade."

"I mean, that's natural. You've probably gone through a lot with her. I promise you though, I can be even better than her."

It takes a lot of self-control not to correct him on that notion. I just sigh again before answering. "Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I love Jade but I also feel like something could happen here. I'm not there yet," I add quickly to not seem super ready all of a sudden. "But I haven't been with a man in years so it's kinda weird, honestly."

"Well I appreciate your honesty and that you're getting more comfortable. Remember if there's anything I can do to make you happier just let me know," he says with a friendly smile.

"There is something actually… If I'm going to continue being here I need to work, which means I need my laptop and my keyboard from home… I mean, my old home," I add.

"Hmm, this isn't some plan to see your girlfriend is it?" he asks suspiciously.

"Jade won't even be home, she's away at work for two weeks," I admit.

"Well then, I'd be happy to bring you over there. But it will have to be tomorrow 'cause I need to get some of my own work done," he finishes apologetically.

I frown slightly but nod my head in understanding. "That's okay… I have to think of what to say to Jade, in case she's there."

"Why would you think she'd be there if you just said she's gone?!" he says suddenly, angrily. He clears his throat. "Sorry, I just don't understand."

The outburst startles me, this being the first time since he's kidnapped me that he's shown any real anger at all. I knew deep down he still had it but it still frightened me a little. "It's the movie business," I defend. "Sometimes timetables aren't set in stone or anything."

"Yeah, that's true… sorry," he says rubbing his head. "Well, I guess having to tell her you might love me instead of her will be hard… excuse me," he says pulling out his phone. I look placidly at him but his remark about what I'll say to Jade, and his anger towards me, has me boiling inside. The audacity in which he said it… I want so badly to insult him and tell him I'll never love him, but that would only set me back. So I just sit and watch him as he smiles, apparently waiting for the other person to answer. "Vic-Tori is mine," he finally says with a smirk. He hangs up the phone and chuckles to himself, apparently loving the pun he made. Now I just wonder who was on the other line; who did he need to say that to?

"Who was that?" I decide to ask.

"Don't worry about it babe," he says as he gets up and goes to the kitchen. I grimace at his back at the term of endearment he decided to spew from his slimy mouth. Apparently since I told him I may like him his confidence has skyrocketed. He's no longer this nice guy who's trying to court me in some gentlemanly manner; he has this swagger that really puts me at unease, like a typical asshole who only acts nice until he gets in a girl's pants. Hopefully this doesn't create a new obstacle I wasn't planning on.

"I'm gonna take a shower," I tell him before getting up and heading to my bedroom. I don't even wait for a response; I can't stand looking at him or acting anymore. It's amazing how frustrated I am now after things have been going so well, just because I mentioned thinking of what to say to Jade. Speaking of her, I pull out the map of the house I made and flip it over. I start writing a message to Jade with the plan of leaving it on our bed so she can find it when she returns.

 _"Jade, if you see this and you haven't seen me, I'm okay. If we did see each other, don't believe anything I've said out loud. I still love you, I'm just in no position to get away, not without your help. Get my dad or whoever you can to help me. Please get me out of here, be my knight in shining armor again. Love, Tori."_

I place the letter back into my dresser drawer, grab some pajamas, and head to take that shower. I let the hot water try to relax me and wash off some stress. I wish I didn't have to spend one more day here but until Jade gets my letter, I'm kinda stuck. Maybe I'll be able to know my whereabouts when he takes me to my place tomorrow.

* * *

I wake up the next morning, my mind set on this day being the last I spend here. I have my map and… wait, this isn't right. I look to my left arm and see it tied securely to the headboard with rope. I look to my right arm and find it in the same fashion as my left. I assume Dave set me up like this and I wonder how he was able to do it without waking me. The door flies open and I see my captor with this smirk on his face.

"Good, you're awake." He walks up to the side of the bed to my left. "Do you have something to tell me?" he asks cryptically. I remain silent, just glaring at him as I'm not sure what he's implying. Dave pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and I'm immediately worried that I know what's on it. "I found this in your dresser drawer yesterday while you were in the shower. This… map of my house… on the back, this love letter to your girlfriend. Asking her to save you?!"

I think quickly of how to explain things but I can't imagine any words that could fool him. I realize I was too careless in my plan; thinking Dave would be so easily fooled again blinded me. "I−"

Dave jumps on top of me and covers my mouth with his hand. My eyes widen as I feel his intense breath on my face. This is the first time since I've been here I'm actually worried about what's going to happen to me. "Nothing you say is going to work, Tori. I see you're trying to leave me and go back to that… girl," he says through gritted teeth. I feel like he wanted to say something more vulgar but he censored himself, probably so I wouldn't get angry at him. "I should really teach you a lesson." He looks at me in this disgusting fashion and my breath quickens. He slowly lets go of his grip over my mouth and gets off of me. "But I won't. I forgive you actually." He takes the previously discarded paper and starts ripping it to shreds in front of me. He tosses the remnants on my body and looks at me disapprovingly. "I understand that this change is really difficult for you," he says seemingly trying to convince himself, "and I shouldn't have expected you to switch so quickly. So just lay here for a little while, understand that I'm your best option, and then we'll go get your stuff."

He leaves the room, keeping my wrists tied to the headboard. I take a deep breath and contemplate my plan. There's probably no way he'll give me any time to myself with a free hand to try writing anything before we go. I may still have the junk mail from before in my trash can so I have a little hope, unless he emptied it without me knowing. I probably have a few precious minutes before he comes back so I start struggling to escape my bonds. Thankfully the knot on my right wrist is close enough to my fingers that with a little persistence I get it loose quickly. In his effort not to wake me he didn't tie it super tight. I quickly untie my other wrist and check the trash can… jackpot! I decide to stash it down my pants under my panties; as uncomfortable as it feels I can't take the chance he checks my pants pockets that I'll probably wear to my apartment. I rush to the bed and start tying myself up the same way as before. It's really easy to get my left wrist tied but it's difficult for my right. I simply spin my wrist so the rope wraps around it and grab the rope to hide where the knot might be. I just have to hope Dave doesn't notice a difference when he comes to untie me. Just as I get situated he comes back in.

"Alright, let's get you out of there so you can come have breakfast." He straddles me again, pressing his weight on my stomach and begins untying my left wrist. I breathe a sigh of relief he started with that one. "So are you sorry for what you did?" he asks looking down at me. I see him moving his hand toward my right wrist and as much as it pains me to do this, I have to keep his attention away from untying me. After internally psyching myself up, I reach up with my left hand and grab his shirt collar and pull him towards me, firmly planting my lips on his own. It feels so terrible and rough but I focus my attention on distracting him until his hand drops to support his weight. He eventually drops his weight on top of me and grabs my hair with his left hand, which gives me the chance to untie myself. Forgivingly enough he breaks the kiss and separates slightly from me. "What was that for?" he says breathlessly.

"Just to say I'm sorry… it's true this is hard and I had doubts, I'll admit. Just give me some time, please, a chance to show you I'm trying to get over Jade?" I say as sadly as possible while trying to be convincing.

"Well how can I stay mad at you after that?" he says with a smile. I return it begrudgingly as he gets off me completely. "Let's have breakfast and I'll take you over there." He waits for me to get up and allows me to exit first; he's definitely not leaving me alone like I guessed.

We eat breakfast and then I change into ripped black jeans and a red and white striped fitted-T. Predictably, Dave asks me to turn out my pockets before we leave and he's satisfied when I have nothing in them. "One more thing," Dave says, pulling out a black bag made of cloth. "This goes on."

"I get it," I say passively, figuring he wouldn't want me to see where I am in proximity to my place. I put the bag on and everything becomes completely black. I don't know what it's made of but even the sunlight barely penetrates the material, leaving me a little disoriented.

My stomach is doing flips by the time Dave tells me we have arrived at my place and takes the bag off of my head. By my calculations it took about half an hour to get here, and we didn't even take the freeway based on the number of times the car came to a stop. His house must be within the city, so at least I know we're in the same state, if nothing else. Part of me wants to see Jade so badly but the other part hopes she's still in Oregon. If she is here I'm going to have to act like I don't love her and I'm not sure if I can pull that off.

"You ready?" Dave asks, pulling me out of my musing.

"Yeah, I'm just nervous in case Jade is here," I tell him. "If she's here you can't hurt her. You do and I will never forgive you," I threaten.

"As long as you don't do anything that seems like a cry for help, I won't have to," he counters with this evil look. He gets out of the car and I breathe deep in frustration. Now I really hope she isn't here so I don't have to fear for her safety. The two of us make our way inside, Dave behind me the whole way. As we make our way up the elevator and start walking to our apartment, my nerves are going crazy. Dave stands up against the wall, his arms crossed casually as I unlock the door. As I open it, my eyes immediately set on Jade standing at the end of the hall near our bedroom with a look of surprise on her face. She must have heard the door unlock and came to see if it was me entering. I can't even believe she's here and not at work; she said she would probably be gone for two weeks. She looks so amazing and all I want to do is run to her and hold her but I remain still.

"Oh my god, Tori!" Jade exclaims loudly. She starts hurrying towards me but her eyes widen and she stops suddenly when I feel Dave slide behind me, making his presence known to her. I keep my eyes downcast as I don't want to see Jade's disheartened face. "Tori, what's going on?" she asks softly.

I take a deep breath. Here comes some of the hardest acting I'll ever have to do. "Jade… I was hoping you wouldn't be here." I gesture to Dave behind me. "This is−"

"I know who it is," she says, taking two threatening steps toward him. I guess she must recognize him somehow even though I couldn't. Before Dave can do anything I put my arm up protectively in front of him.

"Don't touch him," I say with as much venom as I can muster. It's so poisonous it almost makes me sick saying it. I can imagine Dave is smiling ear to ear at my actions right now.

Jade looks confusedly at me. "Tori, what's going on?" she repeats.

"I… I…"

" _We_ just came to get some of Tori's things and we'll be on our way," Dave says putting his arm around my shoulders.

"I didn't ask you asshole!" Jade yells back. She looks into my eyes, our bodies only a couple feet apart. "Did he brainwash you or something?" she says unbelieving.

I shake my head. "He didn't, I… just feel something," I lie, quickly walking past her to our bedroom. I can't look at her anymore when I'm acting like this, it's just too difficult. I hear Dave from the other room shout at me to hurry up, most likely 'cause he doesn't want me to be alone for too long. Jade then yells back at him for talking to me like that; I actually need to rush since I can't trust Dave alone with her. If he decides to hurt her or kidnap her as well, I don't know what I'll do. I grab the mail from my pants and place it squarely on our bed before grabbing a backpack and throwing a few items of clothing in it. I hurry out of the room and throw the pack to Dave. Jade is trying to talk to me but I ignore her, as hard as it is. I'm having trouble preventing myself from blowing my plan to her in hopes the two of us can overpower Dave, but it's another risk I can't take. I grab my laptop and keyboard and walk past my girlfriend to awkwardly hand them to Dave. I go to leave but Jade grabs my hand, forcing me to stop. I finally allow her voice to register in my ears.

"Tori, please, talk to me. I've been worried sick about you since I got back yesterday. When I found out this ass kidnapped you I…"

"Wait, what?!" Dave interrupts. Jade already found out what happened! I'll have to ask her how but now she's unknowingly put herself at risk. Dave might do something to her… I have to convince her I wasn't kidnapped.

"Jade, it's not… like that. I mean, I felt like a prisoner at first but now I don't." Tears start forming in Jade's eyes and I force my own not to fall.

"How can you say that?" she asks pitifully. I haven't seen Jade this broken in years and I'm the one making her feel this way. I need to end this quick. "If I did something to make you leave me, I'll work on it, I swear!" She pauses for a moment. "Just tell me you still love me, please?" The begging is so desperate, she really feels like I'm slipping away. Her hand is gripping mine so tightly it hurts; she doesn't want to let go.

I squeeze her hand, my silent 'I love you' to her; it's my chance to tell Jade that all this has been a lie without Dave even realizing it. I just hope she feels it beyond the overwhelming pain I'm putting her through. I can't even force myself to lie to her, so I just shake my head and let go of her hand, closing the door before Jade has a chance to say anything. By the time I'm back in Dave's car I'm full-blown crying and I wish I was just acting for his sake. Even though everything I said wasn't true, knowing I made Jade question our relationship, knowing I may have made her think she screwed things up, is killing me. I won't even know if she really felt our special sign, like her hand was numb from grief and disappointment. I just have to believe that she noticed it, and that the address on our bed will give her reason to believe I need her to help me. Later I can make things right with her if there's any doubt in her mind. I'm thankful that Dave doesn't say anything on the way back. I'm afraid that I might snap at him if he makes some smart remark. The ride helps me collect myself and allows me to focus on my plan; I just have to keep my hopes of rescue in the back of my mind for now.

We walk inside the house, Dave carrying my keyboard and me carrying my laptop and backpack. After I set my stuff down on the couch, I take my keyboard from him and set it up in the corner next to the big window in the living room. After that I stand in the middle of the room, my arms crossed in contemplation. I'm not sure when, or if, help will arrive so I just have to bide my time. Dave approaches from the side and I try not to pay him any mind.

"Hey, I know that was difficult for you. I'm here for you when you need it." He takes this 'sweet moment' to kiss me on my cheek; it feels like acid on my skin but I resist the strong urge to back away or slap him.

"Thanks, it honestly might take me awhile… but it's nice to know you'll be there," I say, resisting the urge to vomit.

"Well, just let me know," he says, thankfully walking away from me. "So what do you wanna do?"

"I actually just want to work," I respond honestly. First I move the side table from next to the couch and place it next to the keyboard. I turn on my laptop, placing it on the table so that way I can use my song writing programs and word processor to come up with lyrics. Afterwards I take a seat behind my keyboard and start to fiddle on the keys, not really knowing what I want to write. This at least gives me the opportunity to avoid talking to Dave; I really just don't feel like acting anymore. After booting up the laptop, I see that I have no internet connection and the password to the Wi-Fi is blocked. That prevents me from emailing Jade; as much as Dave doesn't want me to be a 'prisoner' he sure treats me like one. Dave settles for turning on Netpix and watching a movie while I work on my music. I figure I'll continue writing what I had started before he kidnapped me so when I eventually escape I won't have lost a lot of time on it. After an hour I decide to pull back the corner of the curtain and glance outside. My heart jumps as I see a police car in a connecting side street pull up to the curb and park. The coincidence of the car pulling up as I decided to check outside doesn't escape me. I sigh as I hope the car is here for me.

"What are you looking at?" Dave asks with a raised eyebrow.

I quickly close the curtain and look at him. _Wow, I bet that didn't look suspicious at all,_ I say to myself. "Nothing, I just really want to go running."

"Maybe another time," he says, getting off the couch and moving towards the window. He looks suspicious and I fear he's going to spot the car if he looks outside.

"But first!" I say quickly, stopping him in his tracks. "Can I play you something? I've been working on a cover and I think you would like it."

Dave smiles politely. "Sure, Tori, let's hear it." I breathe a sigh of relief when he returns to the couch, looking at me expectedly.

"You may not have heard it before, but if you have let me know," I say as I find the keys, trying to remember the notes. It only takes me a minute to process the music in my head before I'm comfortable playing. "Also, I'm going to start at the second verse 'cause I think it's perfect for what's happening right now."

"Oh yeah? Intriguing," he answers with a smile.

I clear my throat and start playing, my plan entirely resting on the fact the police are here to rescue me. If not, I'm going to be completely screwed:

 _Cherry lips, crystal skies_

 _I could show you incredible things_

 _Stolen kisses, pretty lies_

 _You're the King, baby, I'm your Queen_

 _Find out what you want_

 _Be that girl for a month_

 _Wait, the worst is yet to come, oh no_

I smile as I continue,

 _Screaming, crying, perfect storms_

 _I can make all the tables turn_

 _Rose garden filled with thorns_

 _Keep you second guessing like_

 _"Oh my god, what's happening?"_

 _I'm about to be free_

 _Cause you're being caught by the police_

"Dave, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream," I finish without music, a smug smirk on my face. I watch as his smile turns into confusion when I finish the song.

"That was oddly specific," he says through gritted teeth. Several bangs come from the front door as someone knocks.

I stand up confidently. "You should probably get that. You don't want to be rude to your guests, right?" I say mockingly.

 _"Police, open the door!"_ we hear from outside. Dave remains motionless, his eyes staring into the distance as he apparently wasn't expecting to be caught so quickly. I move to the door, realizing Dave has already started making peace with his fate. I open the door and see a taller, tanned officer with slicked back black hair, his nametag reading 'Sgt. Ordoñez.' "Miss Vega," he says in surprise, immediately recognizing me. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, sir. He's on the couch over there," I say pointing behind my shoulder towards the living room.

Sgt. Ordoñez draws his gun and moves past me towards Dave. "Police, hands where I can see them," he commands.

Dave puts his hands on the back of his head. The words 'I surrender' are the only things he says before the officer moves in to cuff him. As he is being led outside, he looks at me sadly. "I had a feeling you were tricking me, I just didn't want to believe it."

"You know what they say, love is blind," I respond cheekily.

He catches my play on words and scowls. "That's not funny." It's the last thing he says to me as I watch Sgt. Ordoñez and his partner walk him to the police car. Another officer exits his vehicle and I recognize him immediately.

"Dad!" I run over to him and meet him halfway to the curb. He envelops me in a hug and kisses my head, making me feel like a child again. I don't cry at all but it feels really good to have him here.

"You okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He didn't hurt me, he's just a lovesick creep. Regardless I just want things to go back to normal."

"Yeah, well kidnapping's still a crime, no matter how he treated you," he mutters. "I have to bring you back to the station for a statement then I'll bring you home. I know Jade is worried sick."

"I can't wait to see her, this time for real," I hum. We start walking to his car.

"Yeah, Jade told me that you came by the apartment. Told me you said you were 'in love with this guy' and you just didn't seem right. That's when she gave me the letter you left her, the one with the address. It's all we needed to find him and get you home." Before we leave, my dad gets another officer to grab my things from the house and bring them to the station.

* * *

When we arrive at the police station, my dad starts leading me through the halls towards the interrogation rooms. When we pass by the large area where my dad's office is, I see Jade sitting down next to it, her head down looking at her phone. I don't even realize I stopped walking when I feel my dad nudge me in the side. I look up at him and he just smiles knowingly down at me. "Oh geez, you know, I gotta make sure the room is unlocked," he says in an overly exaggerated tone before walking off.

I walk quickly towards my girlfriend and she must sense me coming because her head shoots up to look at me. I watch her face light up and she pops out of her chair to meet me part way. When we reach each other I hold her tightly to me and grab the back of her shirt with my hands, breathing in her scent like every time we reunite after time apart. Jade holds me just as tight and I love the way she just lets me melt into her. I move my head so I can look into her eyes. "Thank you for saving me… again," I say with a smile.

"Stop making it a habit to get kidnapped please," Jade replies with a smirk. I move in and plant my lips on hers longingly. The way her lips feel is amazing and when her lips part to allow me entrance, I just smile and break the connection briefly.

"When we get home we'll continue this," I say, making it a point to look around briefly indicating all the people in the room. "More privacy that way," I wink at her.

"You goody two-shoes," she hums. "Go get this over with so I can get you home then." Jade reaches down and squeezes my ass unexpectedly, making me jump.

"Jade!" I say in mock anger, smiling at her and slapping her arm gently. Jade just smirks back and grabs my head from behind to kiss me again. I smile into her lips and press harder, so happy to be back in her arms. I hear my dad whistle so I know he's been waiting a little too long. We both look over and I give him an awkward wave. "Okay, gotta go," I say before giving Jade a quick peck on the lips.

I finally go with my dad to give my statement, recounting my first run-in with Dave, the moment he kidnapped me and everything that happened at his house. I also tell them of when he brought me to our apartment; that was the worst part of it but it was much easier since I know Jade didn't believe what I said to her. I tell the officers everything and then recount the whole thing again to Jade on the way home. She told me I didn't have to if I didn't want but frankly I just want to lay it all out there and be done with it.

"I was really worried Jade, when I saw you at our apartment this morning," I admit to her.

"Of what?"

"It was true when I said I hoped you wouldn't be home. I had to say those terrible things to you… to make Dave think I wasn't in love with you anymore. I was worried you'd believe me or that you would think you did something wrong. I never want you to think that."

I look over to see Jade put her tongue in her cheek, like she's thinking of something. It wasn't really the reaction I expected so now I'm especially curious as to what she'll say. "Honestly, I really did think I did something wrong," she starts softly. "When I was in Oregon filming, I was hoping to video chat with you but you were never online. I emailed you to set up a time to talk and never got a reply. I wondered if you were just really busy writing but I thought you'd be excited to talk, so I thought to myself, 'Did I say something to her and I don't even remember?'" I start to say that she didn't do anything but she continues before I get a chance. "On the way home in the plane, I fell asleep… I had this nightmare…"

She pauses a little too long and I look over to see her hands shaking on the steering wheel. "Jade?"

She looks over at me suddenly, like I snapped her out of a trance. "Sorry… it's just that in the dream, I was basically attacked by a shadow; my shadow. It was like facing my past; it kept telling me I wasn't good enough for you, that I was weak, worthless, like all the self-doubt I've worked so hard to best these last few years was never fixed."

"Oh, Jade," I say softly, placing my hand on her forearm and rubbing it gently. It elicits a small smile from her so I'm happy to see it.

"I didn't worry all that much about it, but when you showed up with that asshole, the doubt crept in again. I prayed that you were just brainwashed or he was putting you up to it, but the more I listened to you the more I thought you somehow didn't love me. But… then you squeezed my hand," Jade says with a smile. "I knew you loved me and it dawned on me you were just acting the whole time. I was like, 'Holy shit, she's still got it." I laugh at her admission and wipe a small tear from my eye, giving her a loving grin. "Seriously, I need to cast you in my next movie," Jade adds. "When I found the letter on our bed I knew you left it as a clue, so I got to your dad, and here we are now."

"I'm so sorry you went through that Jade. You really have come a long way and every day I'll make sure you never have to doubt my love for you." I lean over and kiss her cheek before sitting back down. Jade hums and grabs my hand, kissing my knuckles in return before returning her hand to the wheel. "I'm just thankful that that creep was so in love with me that he slipped up. Every time he brought up the notion that I would leave you I wanted to punch him." Jade snickers. "I'm serious!" I say in mock offense.

"I know you are," she replies. "I would have loved to see you deck that guy, honestly. He looks like a wimp."

"Yeah, he really does." We get back to our place and Jade helps me bring everything upstairs so I can make everything normal again. I take a deep breath when I'm satisfied with the setup. "Feels good to be home."

"It's even better having you here," Jade replies, hugging me from behind.

I spin to face her, placing my arms over her shoulders. "So what do you want to do?"

"Depends… do you want to take a nap?"

I shake my head. "No, I'd rather spend some time with you."

Jade smirks at me. "In that case…" She leans in and plants her lips on mine and I feel like we're on the same page with what we want to do. I press into the kiss a little harder, breathing out of my nose with satisfaction. When Jade opens her mouth to allow entrance I take the opportunity, letting our tongues dance harmoniously. It doesn't take long for Jade to gently pick me up and lay me down on the loveseat so she can lie on top of me. One of my legs slides into between hers which allows us to be more comfortable as we continue to make out. I do love when she lies on top of me; it gives me an opportunity to squeeze her ass without the bed or couch getting in the way. She's so amazing at making sure I'm comfortable too; the benefits of being together for years and having our fair share of make-out sessions. Any time Jade slightly pulls away from the kiss I lean up hungrily to reattach to her. The session is getting pretty heated and I make the smart decision to stop, at least for a moment.

"Bedroom?" we say in unison. I giggle lightly before she gets off of me and she pulls me up. We share a quick kiss before moving to our room so our night can continue.


	8. Epilogue

**A/N: Hey everyone, very sorry about the delay. A lot of things at work changed and it took me awhile to get this final chapter finished. I'm not super happy with it honestly but it was difficult for me to make it as interesting as the rest of what I had. Regardless, I'm very happy this story is all done, it took a long time to finish it. I hope everyone liked it, look for more stories by me in the future outside of "Victorious"... I think I'm tapped out of ideas for this subject haha.**

 **Thanks to all the love I've gotten!**

* * *

I can't believe the day has finally come… months and months of planning, shopping around, and stress have culminated in our special day. I'm standing in front of a mirror in the only church we could find that would give us a wedding without any reservations from the pastor. I'm dressed in a beautiful white bridal dress; the material is almost mesh in the middle near my neck, making a V-shaped pocket that goes from both shoulders, meeting in the middle above my breasts. There are no big ruffles on my dress; it's very sleek around my upper body, but it also has the traditional flowy bottom that Trina will be helping me with as I walk down the aisle. Standing here looking at myself, I can't help but realize I'm not scared in the slightest of marrying Jade. We've been dating for close to seven years and have taken care of any challenge that gets in our way. From moving to New York, to starting my job with Mr. Briggs, to Jade struggling to find work but eventually getting work acting on stage; we've had troubles and issues we've worked through and we've come out stronger in the end every time. The door opens behind me, breaking me out of my reverie. I look in the mirror to see Trina walk in, a big smile on her face. I love how enthusiastic she is, even if she and Jade aren't the greatest of friends still. Their relationship has definitely improved since Hollywood Arts, but Trina's sometimes grating personality is still tough for Jade to deal with most days.

"You, look, amazing," Trina gushes. I just smile, not really responding as she comes closer. She puts her arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek, finally looking into the mirror with me. "For one day, you're prettier than your big sister," she says cheekily, causing me to laugh sincerely.

"Thanks Treen, I really do love this dress. Is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes, Jade and her party have already gone out, everyone is almost out for your side too."

The door opens again, this time revealing my dad, wearing a nice tuxedo. "Well if it isn't my two beautiful daughters."

"Hey," I say softly before giving him a hug. Trina does the same.

"You ready to get married?" he asks, holding his arm out in a gentlemanly manner.

"You ask like you don't already know the answer," I say cheekily, taking his arm in mine. We start walking down the hall with Trina in tow holding up my tail. "Of course I'm ready. I've been ready since the day I fell in love with Jade."

"I know sweetie. It just seems too soon for me to walk one of you down the aisle."

"Well, it's happening," I say with a smile. We reach the doors leading to the congregation and my heart starts to beat rapidly, my calm assuredness suddenly disappearing. I guess just coming up to this amazing moment I can't help but be a little nervous. The ushers in front of us open the door when the music starts playing, revealing us to the audience. I look and smile at all the faces in the crowd as they look on in wonder, my eyes eventually settling on the amazing beauty at the altar. Jade is standing there, Cat beside her, and a rare wide smile is adorning her face. She's wearing a purple dress, the fabric enveloping her figure perfectly but tastefully. As we approach, Jade's smile tempers into a more comfortable grin that she's used to. As I reach her, I can't help but look only into her eyes; even as my dad places my hand into Jade's, her gaze mesmerizes me, turning me into the seventeen year old girl I was when we first met. Even though I had just spilled coffee on Beck and she was mad at me, I found myself so attracted to her despite my fear. Now, close to ten years later, we're holding hands in front of our friends and family and I'm so ready to get on with the rest of our lives. The pastor reaches the part for our vows and I let Jade go first.

"Tori, we've been together for so long and things have been so amazing. Most people know that it wasn't always like it is now, considering back in high school I didn't like you all that much." I smirk a little at her statement. "But as we constantly hung out, your amazing personality started breaking through my walls. It was annoying at first," she says dryly, eliciting a short laugh from the crowd and me, "but I started to realize I wanted you… needed you in my life. With everything I've been through, I needed that positive influence; I needed someone who always looked for the best in people, who despite my best attempts at pushing you away only made you try harder. Tori, you are the sunshine to my shadow, and I vow to make every day a life that you deserve. Tori," she sighs and rolls her eyes, making me raise my eyebrow in confusion, "you're the reason I'm so much better than I used to be." I snicker at how she used a line to my song. "See what you've done to me?" she responds to my laughter, making me smile even more. I squeeze her hands before I start my own vow.

"Jade, as much as I've done to help you, you've made me stronger and more resilient than I could have possibly done on my own. I always used to put myself down when things wouldn't go as I hoped… I wasn't very confident, especially before I joined Hollywood Arts. But you've taught me that through failure comes experience, with experience, wisdom. And really, you taught me not to care about those people who don't believe in me. You've pushed me, sometimes literally," I pause as I hear Beck and André laugh in the crowd, obviously getting the reference to when Jade pushed me off a balcony when I did my first stunt work, "to try new things, to take risks, to never settle for less than my best. Jade, you are the strongest person I know and I'm so excited that we'll be spending the rest of our lives together."

We smile at each other as the priest continues the ceremony, my heart already hammering in my chest. He gets to the affirmation of vows and, while repeating after the priest, Jade recites:

"I, Jade, take Tori, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

I go through the same thing, the whole time smiling like a goofball as I hold Jade's hands. I can feel myself shaking just slightly as I talk, and Jade gives me a reassuring squeeze which only makes me smile wider. When the priest says "You may now kiss the bride," I whisper "I love you," to Jade. As I move in to kiss her, instead of hearing applause, all I hear is beeping. I stop and start looking around and everything starts becoming blurry, like dripping water onto a canvas of paint. I look around worriedly until I wake up in my bed with a start. I look next to me; Jade is sound asleep, naked under the covers after our night of passion. I sigh deeply when the realization hits me that we aren't married yet. At least I know it will happen someday, but until then I'll be happy to dream again of that day.


End file.
